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Brotherhood 2.0: February 17, 2007

2007-02-15 (said on 2007-02-16 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded -1 days later) · letter vlog · John · 3:14 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: community lore, song or performance

Having reached Houston after a snow delay in Columbus, John asks what the airport's 'Nerdfighters' arcade game is about, decides it is nerds fighting popular people, imagines it as a video game, stacks history's nerds against the popular side, sings a Nerdfighters theme song and asks for new challenges.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Snow delay in Columbus, arrival in Houston; the 'Nerdfighters' game at Columbus Airport: who fights whom?

  • ★★ After a long delay because of snow in Columbus, Ohio, John has finally reached Houston, Texas, where it is not snowing. — 00:00:14

  • ★★★ Columbus Airport had the 'Nerdfighters' game; John asks whether it is about people fighting nerds or nerds fighting others, and concludes it is nerds who tackle 'the scourge of popular people'. (playful) — 00:00:14 · nerdfighter

    “Nerds who tackle the scourge of popular people.”

00:00:51 — Nerdfighters as an imagined video game: nerd characters and their powers, the quarterback as Mike Tyson

  • ★★ John imagines Nerdfighters as a video game mixing Mortal Kombat and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: players pick nerd characters with special powers and fight popular people, with the high-school quarterback as the final opponent. (hypothetical, hedged) — 00:00:51

00:01:39 — The war between nerds and popular people: John's roster of famous nerds beats Bush and Tom Brady

  • ★★ Voicing the popular side as George W. Bush and Tom Brady, John answers poker-style with famous nerds, from Bill Clinton and Lincoln to all four Beatles, and declares 'We win!' (playful) — 00:01:39

00:02:08 — A Nerdfighters theme song; after the Strawberry Hill Challenge, a call for new challenges

  • ★★ John says Nerdfighters needs a theme song and sings one about calculators, trombones, D&D and Star Wars, fighting with brains and a Battlestar Galactica reference. (playful) — 00:02:08
  • ★★★ Now that Hank has completed the Strawberry Hill Challenge, John says it is time for more challenges and invites Hank or viewers to start suggesting some. (hedged) — 00:02:33

Humor (dominant)

  • John lists nerd characters' special powers; the English nerd only knows a lot of Shakespeare quotes. — 00:00:51

    “kind of like using Toad when you're playing Super Mario Kart”

  • John answers the popular side's Bush and Tom Brady with ever more famous nerds, poker style. — 00:01:39

    “and all four Beatles. We win!”

  • In the theme song John rhymes his sci-fi viewing with weapon design. — 00:02:33

    “I'm designing weapons that'll kick your astica.”

  • John defends the sci-fi show his friends liked. — 00:02:33

    “I mean, they're not real friends. I just know them on the Internet.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

People: Abraham Lincoln · Albert Einstein · Aristotle · Bill Clinton · Bill Gates · Blaise Pascal · Franklin Delano Roosevelt · George W. Bush · Immanuel Kant · Isaac Newton · Jane Austen · Mahatma Gandhi · Mike Tyson · Nelson Mandela · Tiki Barber · Tom Brady · William Shakespeare

Works: Aero Fighters (“They had Nerdfighters! Nerdfighters!”) · Battlestar Galactica · Dungeons & Dragons · John's Nerdfighters theme song · Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! · Mortal Kombat · Star Wars · Super Mario Kart

Groups: The Beatles

Terms: nerdfighter

Concepts: nerd

Places: Columbus, Ohio · Houston, Texas

Characters: Toad

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