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Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!!

2007-12-18 · Q&A · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Global development) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, community lore, punishment or challenge, fundraising ask, calendar ritual

The day after the Project for Awesome, John says watching the Nerdfighter takeover of YouTube made him happier than anything since his wedding, opens a call for punishments for Hank's textual communication, and answers a rapid-fire Question Tuesday (authorial intent, the meaning of life, absurd hypotheticals).

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; the most discussed page of YouTube filled with Nerdfighter videos; Question Tuesday intro; the Secret Project made John the happiest since his wedding

00:00:39 — Thanks for the Project for Awesome and a call to support charities; Hank communicated textually in Nalts's comments, so Nerdfighters should suggest punishments

  • ★★ John says it is amazing to see so many people come together to support each other and worthy organizations, and thanks them. — 00:00:39 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ John asks viewers to watch the Project for Awesome videos, find charities they like and support them. — 00:00:39 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★★ Answering whether there will be a punishment before year's end, John says yes: Hank communicated with him in the comments of Nalts's video, so Hank will be punished. (playful) — 00:00:39 · No textual communication, Punishment
  • ★★ John asks Nerdfighters to suggest lots of punishments for Hank in the comments, as time is short. — 00:00:39 · Nerdfighteria, Punishment

00:01:09 — Question Tuesday answers: nerdfighter falling in the forest, muffins, the meaning of life, units of awesome, a math problem, 'in your pants' book title, authorial intent, Looking for Alaska, Huck Finn, 'Who the F is Hank', lightsaber monkeys, the white room

  • ★★ Asked whether a Nerdfighter alone in the forest is still made of awesome, John says Nerdfighters are even more awesome when they act nerdfighterly with no one watching. (playful) — 00:01:09 · made of awesome, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Asked the meaning of life, John answers: other people. — 00:01:09 · meaning of life
  • ★ John says the unit of awesome must be giga-cools rather than kilo-cools, because there is too much awesome. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:09
  • ★ John solves a viewer's tree-cutting rate problem (Ralph an hour per tree, Wayne 40 minutes), notes it looks like eighth-grade math, and tells the asker 'you've been pwned'. (playful) — 00:01:38 · pwned

  • ★★★ Asked whether authors really put in as much symbolism as English teachers think, John says they do, but that even if they didn't, the reading experience would be equally rich without authorial intent; a Hamlet typed by monkeys would still be good. — 00:02:07

    “the reading experience would be equally rich with or without authorial intent”

  • ★★ Asked whether Looking for Alaska is based on real-life experience, John answers yes and no. — 00:02:07 · Looking for Alaska (novel)

  • ★ Asked whether the asker should buy his books, John jokes that the question is sure to get featured, and says yes. (playful) — 00:02:07
  • ★★ Asked which book he most wishes he had written, John names Huck Finn. — 00:02:36

00:03:36 — Medieval battle cry (pizza while discussing Hank's punishment); thanks to P4A participants; sign-off; scavenger hunt pointer

  • ★★ John tells scavenger hunters that his dad has their clue. — 00:03:36 · Mike Green

Humor (significant)

  • Asked which book most benefits from adding 'in your pants' to its title, John picks a Flannery O'Connor classic. — 00:01:38

    “Everything That Rises Must Converge... In Your Pants.”

  • Asked 'Who the F is Hank?', John answers like an encyclopedia entry about a Pacific island colonized by the Spanish in 1521. — 00:02:36

    “Hank is today known primarily for his beautiful coral reefs and large American military presence.”

  • Asked whether he believes in the paranormal, John answers with a twist. — 00:02:36

    “I'll tell you one thing, I don't believe in the normal.”

  • Asked who would be eaten first if both brothers were trapped in a 2 by 2 meter white room, John questions the question. — 00:03:07

    “a 2 meter by 2 meter room only has two dimensions, and that means that we would only have two dimensions.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: authorial intent · Project for Awesome · Question Tuesday

Also: People: Flannery O'Connor · Mike Green · Mike Huckabee · Nalts

Projects: Nerdfighter Scavenger Hunt

Works: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn · Battlestar Galactica · Everything That Rises Must Converge · Fraggle Rock · Hamlet (play) · Looking for Alaska (novel)

Organizations: YouTube

Rituals: No textual communication · Punishment

Terms: in your pants · made of awesome · Who the Eff Is Hank

Concepts: infinite monkey theorem · meaning of life

Memes: pwned

Also centred on authorial intent: The Education Continuum WARNER CHILCOTTED · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) · On the Movies · On the Death of the Author

← Previous: Project for Awesome: Explanation and Humane Societies · Next → December 19: The Day that the Nerds Took Over YouTube