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May 30th: Ranavalona and Clean Coal

2007-05-30 · song · Hank · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: History & curiosities (also: Science & nature) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: song or performance, community lore, civic or action cta, timely hook

Answering John's packing video, Hank sings a comic song about Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar, then says more uses for coal would be the worst thing, objects that Obama champions coal-to-liquid technology and that clean coal ads are spreading, and invites Nerdfighters to rewrite a happy coal mascot's thought bubble.

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; Hank suddenly needs a song and takes something random from John's video

  • ★★ Suddenly finding he needed to do a song today, Hank decided yesterday to take something extremely random from John's video and make a song about it. (playful) — 00:00:03 · John Green

00:00:44 — Hank's song about Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar

  • ★★★ Hank sings an original song about Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar, portraying her cruelty and weighing her killings against those of history's other killers, including Hitler. (playful) — 00:00:44

00:02:38 — Brief reactions to John's move and the Yeti's poem, then coal: more ways to use coal would be the worst thing

  • ★ Hank reacts to John already packing to leave New York: it is scary, he is sorry, and he hopes he won't have to move soon. — 00:02:38 · John Green, New York City
  • ★ Referring to John's last video, Hank calls the Yeti amazing and says he is undone. (playful) — 00:02:38 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ Hank has lately been a little disappointed by the coverage of coal. — 00:02:38
  • ★★★ Hank says everyone knows coal is bad though we need it for power, but the worst thing would be finding more ways to use coal. — 00:02:38

00:03:08 — Obama and coal-to-liquid technology; clean coal ads and the happy lump of coal

  • ★★ Hank says people are trying to figure out how to use coal to power automobiles. — 00:03:08
  • ★★ Hank tells John that Obama, John's favourite candidate, is a champion of coal-to-liquid technology. — 00:03:08 · Barack Obama
  • ★★★ Hank grants that Obama is photogenic and well-spoken, but his support for coal-to-liquid technology turns Hank off. — 00:03:08 · Barack Obama
  • ★★ Hank is angry that clean coal advertisements are popping up everywhere, even on some environmental blogs. — 00:03:08
  • ★ One clean coal ad shows a happy lump of coal with legs that runs, skips and jumps, with thought bubbles saying happy things. (playful) — 00:03:08
  • ★★ Hank has emptied the coal mascot's thought bubble and encourages Nerdfighters to fill in what it would actually say, sending entries by email or in the comments; the best may win a prize. — 00:03:08 · Nerdfighteria

00:03:50 — Send rewritten thought bubbles by email or in the comments; prize; sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description offers Hank's Ranavalona song for sale on iTunes. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Hank responds to the Yeti's rhymed reply in John's last video. — 00:02:38

    “amazing Yeti. I'm undone.”

  • Hank describes the mascot of a clean coal advertisement. — 00:03:08

    “a lump of coal with legs that runs and skips and jumps and is happy.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: coal · coal liquefaction · Hank's song about Queen Ranavalona I

Also: Adolf Hitler · Barack Obama · clean coal advertisement · Madagascar · New York City · Sarah Urist Green

Only in the description or credits: iTunes · Ranavalona I

Also centred on coal: Uncomfortable Nuance: Natural Gas Edition · Trees are Destroying the Earth (Again) · The Molecule that Changed Everything

Also centred on coal liquefaction: June 1: Barack Saabama

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