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Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club

2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · letter vlog · John · 3:18 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Pop culture) · mode: Announcements · tags: community lore, recurring series, on location

From Mobile, Alabama, where Sarah is curating the exhibition Among the Ruins, John announces the first Blurbing Book Club winners and adds a second, LOLbook contest starting with Slaughterhouse-Five.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — In Mobile, Alabama: parade beads and Sarah's exhibition Among the Ruins (house in latex, profiles cut from Beijing ruins, Detroit houses painted orange)

  • ★ John, in Mobile, Alabama on Friday, March 14, wears beads from a parade he walked past; all three of his visits there coincided with a parade. (playful) — 00:00:06
  • ★★ John is in Mobile because Sarah is curating an exhibition opening there, Among the Ruins, which he calls great. — 00:00:31 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ John describes the show's contemporary artists: a New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward house cast in latex and cheesecloth after the storm, a profile cut from demolished Beijing buildings, Detroit buildings painted orange. — 00:00:31
  • ★ John's favourite detail: the orange the Detroit artists use is a Disney paint colour called Tiggerrific Orange. (playful) — 00:01:00
  • ★★ John suggests that Nerdfighters living in Mobile might see the show, since Hank probably can't; a link is in the sidebar. (hedged) — 00:01:00 · Nerdfighteria

00:01:30 — Blurbing Book Club: first winner (an anagram blurb), a second LOLbook winner, and two contests from now on

  • ★★★ John announces the winner of the first Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club: a blurb that is an anagram of Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. — 00:01:30 · Maureen Johnson
  • ★★ The winning blurb's author will receive special prizes, but John could not find out who that Nerdfighter is and hopes Hank knows. (hedged) — 00:01:30
  • ★★ Without consulting Hank, John declares a second winner: the vote's runner-up, a LOLbook blurb about Europe, grieving an aunt and kissing. — 00:01:30 · LOLbook
  • ★★★ Starting with Slaughterhouse-Five, the Blurbing Book Club will run two contests: a regular blurb and a LOLbook blurb. — 00:02:05 · LOLbook
  • ★★ John gives sample LOLbooks for Moby-Dick and Hamlet, promising along the way that the club will never have to read Moby-Dick together. (playful) — 00:02:05 · LOLbook

00:02:35 — Slaughterhouse-Five blurb deadline; YouTube channels Musecast and frezned recommended

  • ★★★ John invites both a regular and a LOLbook blurb for Slaughterhouse-Five; the deadline is Wednesday (19 March 2008) at midnight. — 00:02:35 · LOLbook
  • ★★ John recommends the YouTube channel Musecast, a year-long conversation between five friends trying to break into the entertainment industry. — 00:02:35
  • ★★ John also recommends the Australian vlogger frezned, whom he calls just brilliant. — 00:02:35

00:03:03 — Sign-off with one more LOLbook for a William Carlos Williams poem

  • ★ John signs off with one more LOLbook, meant only for readers of a particular William Carlos Williams poem about plums. (playful) — 00:03:03 · LOLbook

Humor (significant)

  • John has been to Mobile three times and there was a parade every time. — 00:00:06

    “either the people of Mobile, Alabama get really excited whenever I come to town, or else they have a parade every day”

  • After describing the ruin-based artworks, John gushes about ruins. — 00:01:00

    “God, I love ruins. They're the rainbows of the future.”

  • John asks for a drumroll to announce the winner and gets none. — 00:01:30

    “No? No? Drumrolls are copyrighted? Okay. No drumroll.”

  • John's sample LOLbook blurb for Moby-Dick. — 00:02:05

    “I'm in your oceans, ponin' your whales.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Among the Ruins · Blurbing Book Club · LOLbook · Mobile, Alabama

Also: People: frezned · Sarah Urist Green

Works: 13 Little Blue Envelopes · Hamlet (play) · Moby-Dick · Slaughterhouse-Five · This Is Just to Say

Organizations: The Walt Disney Company

Groups: Musecast

Places: Beijing · Detroit · New Orleans

Events: Hurricane Katrina

Only in the description or credits: Maureen Johnson · Space 301 · William Carlos Williams

Also centred on Blurbing Book Club: Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! · Best Wishes! · Shawty Got Low, Tritube and Blurbing · Don't Suck on That Bone · OMFG CATCHER IN THE RYE!!! · Early Voting with Hank

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