Skip to content

Berlin and Let it Snow (in Your Pants)

2008-10-06 · letter vlog · John, German actor and chess boxer (name not given) · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Books & writing, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Personal update · tags: self promotion, punishment or challenge, community lore, guest or collab, civic or action cta

In a ten-part video opening the brothers' month-long Brotherhood 2.0-style vlogging punishment, John recaps Minneapolis and Berlin (insult gum, a de-steepled church, German insults, a chess-boxing actor), mourns James Crumley, moves tour events to Facebook and gives away Let It Snow copies.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Parts 1-2: back from Berlin, Nerdfighters there; Minneapolis Nerdfighters and gifts, incl. the Spanish Looking for Alaska

  • ★★ John has just got back from Berlin, Germany, where he met Nerdfighters, including Jenny, who got him a flag. — 00:00:00 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ John points to Recipes from a Hat, a Nerdfighter's channel he likens to Songs from a Hat, only with food. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Before Berlin, John was in Minneapolis and met hundreds of Nerdfighters; he says the vlog will be unstuck in time like Billy Pilgrim. — 00:00:00 · Nerdfighteria, made of awesome
  • ★★ Among the presents John received in Minneapolis was his first copy of the Spanish translation of Looking for Alaska. — 00:00:00 · Looking for Alaska (novel)

00:00:41 — Parts 2-6: Shakespearean insult gum, the de-steepled church, German insults, musical incongruity, the alcoholic bar dog

  • ★ John samples a Shakespearean insult gum with insults from seven Shakespeare plays, choosing King Lear. (playful) — 00:00:41
  • ★★ From their Berlin hotel room John admired the view but only saw what was odd about the church when Sarah noticed most of its steeple was gone. (playful) — 00:00:41 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ A fan of German insults, John says he used 'sitzpinkler', a man who sits to pee, about a hundred times in his second novel. (playful) — 00:01:21 · Sitzpinkler, An Abundance of Katherines
  • ★★ John learned a new German insult in Germany, for a man who takes hot showers, and admits he is one. (playful) — 00:01:21 · Warmduscher
  • ★★ Speaking to high school students in a room holding every children's book published in the GDR, John says the headmaster brought a CD reflecting the roots of Looking for Alaska. — 00:01:21 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★ Two hours later, in a tiny bar with tar-browned walls and antlered skulls, R.E.M.'s Everybody Hurts came on. — 00:01:50
  • ★ The bar had a dog that used to drink there, reminding John of Fireball Roberts, the alcoholic bulldog in James Crumley's The Last Good Kiss. — 00:01:50

00:02:20 — James Crumley's death; tour events now on Facebook, RSVP at Nerdfighters.com

  • ★★ John says James Crumley died a couple of weeks ago in Hank's hometown of Missoula, Montana. — 00:02:20 · Missoula, Montana
  • ★★ John calls Crumley a damn good writer who will be missed. — 00:02:20
  • ★★★ With Hank's help, all Paper Towns and Nerdfighting Tour events are now on Facebook with up-to-date information; Eventful.com, now their 'mortal enemy', is dropped. — 00:02:20 · Facebook, Hank Green
  • ★★ John asks viewers to find the tour events listed on Nerdfighters.com, RSVP and invite their friends. — 00:02:20 · nerdfighters.com

00:02:49 — Part 8: the actor who read John's book in Germany is a champion chess boxer

  • ★★ At German schools an actor read John's book, as John doesn't read or speak German; one of those actors is among the world's best chess boxers. — 00:02:49
  • ★★ German actor and chess boxer (name not given): The actor greets Hank after reading with John and says he is the runner-up European champion in heavyweight chess boxing. — 00:02:49 · Hank Green
  • ★ German actor and chess boxer (name not given): The actor explains that chess boxing alternates four minutes of chess with two minutes of boxing, and can be won by knockout. — 00:02:49

00:03:18 — Parts 9-10: Let It Snow giveaway, first day of the month-long vlogging challenge, scavenger-hunt P.S.

  • ★★ John got far too many author copies of Let It Snow and will give five away to random commenters on this video. — 00:03:18 · Let It Snow
  • ★★★ John announces that today is the first day of the brothers' month-long Brotherhood 2.0-style vlogging challenge, the first such in almost ten months. — 00:03:18 · Brotherhood 2.0, Punishment, Hank Green
  • ★★ John says his new book Paper Towns comes out in ten days. — 00:03:22 · Paper Towns
  • ★★ For Nerdfighters who can't wait for Paper Towns, John recommends Let It Snow, the holiday romance anthology he wrote with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. — 00:03:22 · Let It Snow, Maureen Johnson
  • ★ John says that this time he literally means it when he tells Hank he'll see him tomorrow. (playful) — 00:03:47
  • ★ In a P.S. to scavenger hunters, John says he loves Seattle, Wizard Rock and snakes. — 00:03:47

Humor (significant)

  • John chews Shakespearean insult gum and reads out a King Lear insult. — 00:00:41

    “That is some delicious insulting.”

  • John failed to notice the church outside his hotel window was missing its steeple until Sarah pointed it out. — 00:00:41

    “So much for the theory that writers have to have unusually developed powers of observation.”

  • John describes a Berlin bar with tar-browned walls and antlers mounted on the wall. — 00:01:50

    “they don't even bother to remove the skulls”

  • The actor who read John's book is a champion chess boxer, fighting at both chess and boxing. — 00:03:18

    “I mean, Hank, that is an actual, literal nerdfighter.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Berlin · Chess boxing

Also: People: German actor and chess boxer (name not given) · James Crumley · Sarah Urist Green · William Shakespeare

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0 · nerdfighters.com · Paper Towns Tour

Works: An Abundance of Katherines · Back to the Future · Everybody Hurts · King Lear · Let It Snow · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Recipes from a Hat · Songs from a Hat · The Last Good Kiss

Organizations: Eventful · Facebook

Groups: R.E.M.

Rituals: See you tomorrow

Terms: made of awesome · nerdfighter (“an actual, literal nerdfighter”) · Sitzpinkler · Warmduscher

Concepts: Spanish language · Wizard rock

Places: East Germany · Germany · Minneapolis · Missoula, Montana · Seattle

Characters: Billy Pilgrim · Fireball Roberts

Products: Shakespearean insult gum

Only in the description or credits: in your pants · Punishment

Replied to by

← Previous: The Man Who Throws the Tetris Piece · Next → Hank on the Debate