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May 1st: Neil Gaiman in Helena

2007-05-01 · Hank, Neil Gaiman · watch on YouTube · Books & writing · personal update

Hank answers John's author greetings with his own: Neil Gaiman, met in Helena, says hi to John; Hank shares a clip of Gaiman on being an author and answers John's song challenge with a comic song about Helena, Montana.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting; Neil Gaiman, gotten after a long signing line, says hi to John

  • ★★★ Hank opens with Neil Gaiman, whom he calls a New York Times best-selling, Hugo- and Nebula-winning 'nerdfighter guy', saying hi to John after Hank waited in a very long line. — 00:00:12 · Neil Gaiman
  • ★ Hank says John always has good writers on Brotherhood 2.0, but now Hank has one too. (playful) — 00:00:12 · Brotherhood 2.0, Neil Gaiman

00:00:40 — Congratulations on the LA Times Book Award; Gaiman's Law; a clip of Gaiman's lecture on being an author

  • ★★ Hank congratulates Coe Booth on the L.A. Times Book Award, calling it a big deal, and John on being nominated. — 00:00:40
  • ★★ Because many Nerdfighters are Gaiman fans and want to be writers, Hank shares a clip he surreptitiously captured of Gaiman's lecture. — 00:00:40 · Nerdfighteria, Neil Gaiman
  • ★★ Having watched John go through it, Hank attests that Gaiman is right, and says John fell victim to 'Gaiman's Law': on first publication you open the book straight to its only typo. (playful) — 00:00:40 · Neil Gaiman, John Green
  • ★★ Asked whether anything beats seeing your name on a book's spine, Gaiman says you think that if you did it once you'd never need anything more, comparing it to figuring out sex at 14. (playful) — 00:01:09 · Neil Gaiman

00:01:57 — Answer to John's song challenge: a comic song about Helena, Montana

  • ★★ Hank thanks John for the challenge to write more songs but, as a commenter noted, it is hard and takes creative energy, so he can't guarantee anything. — 00:01:57 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank had reasons besides Neil Gaiman to be in Helena; his song says they played frisbee at the Capitol and looked at lots of belt buckles. (playful) — 00:01:57
  • ★★ Hank sings a comic song about Helena, Montana: golden cows and chopping trees as its industries, eggs served with butter, and checking your guns at the door. (playful) — 00:02:26

00:02:58 — Hope the song replaces the Helen Hunt song; still unpaid; thanks to Coe Booth, Francesca Lia Block and the others who said hi; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank doubts his song is as catchy as the Helen Hunt song but hopes it bumps that song out of some viewers' heads. (playful) (hedged) — 00:02:58 · Helen Hunt
  • ★★ Hank says there is still no progress on getting paid for his work. — 00:02:58
  • ★ Hank is excited that Coe Booth thinks he's hot and says hi back to Francesca Lia Block and everyone who greeted him in John's last video. (playful) — 00:02:58

Humor (significant)

  • Hank boasts that, like John, he finally has a famous writer on Brotherhood 2.0. — 00:00:12 > «I may have had to wait in a very, very long line to get one.»
  • Hank explains 'Gaiman's Law': open your newly published first book at random and find its only typo. — 00:01:09 > «And then you will want to kill yourself.»
  • Hank's comic song about Helena, Montana lists the town's industries. — 00:02:26 > «Golden cows and chopping trees. These are the industries of Helena, Montana.»
  • Closing after greetings from Gaiman and the authors in John's video. — 00:02:58 > «We may not be famous, but we got famous people on the Brotherhood.»

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