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Brotherhood 2.0: February 9, 2007

2007-02-09 · letter vlog · John · 2:37 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Everyday life, Science & nature) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, community lore

On laundry day John corrects Hank's banjo-concert death calculation with help from mathematician Daniel Biss, then answers commenters: his new novel is called Paper Towns, due September 2008, and its subject is given only as a string of comic lies.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; laundry day in 'the world's smallest washing machine'; The Naked and the Dead found 'in my pants'

  • ★ It is laundry day, and John shows what he calls the world's smallest washer-dryer, 'designed exclusively for Lilliputians'; a few clothes overstuff it. (playful) — 00:00:03
  • ★ While loading the washer John pulls out The Naked and the Dead, announcing it as 'the naked and the dead in my pants'. (joke) — 00:00:33 · in your pants

00:00:33 — Via Daniel Biss, the flaw in Hank's banjo-concert death theorem: most 70-year-olds die closer to 82; go to longer concerts

  • ★★★ Citing mathematician Daniel Biss, John says Hank's theorem is flawed: a 70-year-old may live on average to 83, but most people die closer to 82 than to 70. — 00:00:33 · Daniel Biss
  • ★★ John concludes that to see someone die at a banjo concert, what matters is not an older audience but a longer concert, such as a 13-year-long one. (playful) — 00:01:09

00:01:09 — Commenters' questions answered: the new novel is Paper Towns, out September 2008; what it's about as a series of lies; Monday from Washington, D.C.; sign-off

  • ★★★ Answering commenters' questions about his new book, John says it is called Paper Towns and will be published in September 2008. — 00:01:09 · Paper Towns
  • ★★ John declines to say what Paper Towns is about, answering with a declared 'long series of lies': a 17th-century Japanese orphanage, an origami championship, Hamlet, teenage Emily Dickinson and more. (playful) — 00:01:09 · Paper Towns
  • ★ John says he will watch Hank's Monday video from Washington, D.C. — 00:01:52

Humor (significant)

  • Loading the tiny washing machine, John finds a Norman Mailer novel among his clothes. — 00:00:33

    “Oh, it's the naked and the dead in my pants”

  • After correcting Hank's death math, John gives the real key to seeing someone die at a banjo concert. — 00:01:09

    “The key is to go to longer banjo concerts, like 13-year-long banjo concerts.”

  • Among the lies about what Paper Towns is about, John lists a lesson about eating your diet points. — 00:01:52

    “even though sometimes you eat the exact number of points you're supposed to eat, you still don't get less fat”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Paper Towns

Also: People: Daniel Biss · Emily Dickinson

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0

Works: Faulkner's Nobel Prize acceptance speech · Hamlet (play) · The Naked and the Dead

Organizations: Weight Watchers

Terms: in your pants

Places: Washington, DC

Replies to

  • corrects · Brotherhood 2.0: February 8th — “there's a huge gaping flaw in your mathematical theorem about old people and dying and banjo concerts”

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