Special Friday Video! (On Saturday)

2009-09-12 (said on 2009-09-11 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Pop culture (also: Nerdfighteria, Books & writing, Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: civic or action cta, self promotion, community lore

Responding to Hank's crime-show song, John argues that shows like CSI sell the comforting lie that evil lives only in certain people, and that we like stories that make sense; he also updates the wall, plugs Nerdfighter causes and names contest winners.

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; five parts; Part one: the Great Wall Fail of 2009 continues, drawings on the wall

★★ John says the wall is still there, 'the Great Wall Fail of 2009', though he has made some progress. — 00:00:00
★ John shows drawings on the wall: the great white wall of cow ridden by Willy as the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts, and a unicorn meant to motivate him, since he hates unicorns. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Willy

00:00:40 — Part two: Hank's song prompts why we like predictable crime shows: CSI vs The First 48; the lie that evil is outside us; stories that make sense

★★ John says Hank's song was incredibly good and made him think about why we like crime shows even though they are so predictable. — 00:00:40
★★ John and the Yeti, who rarely watch TV, like to follow an episode of CSI with The First 48, A&E's show about real detectives and real crimes. — 00:00:40 · Sarah Urist Green
★★ John contrasts CSI, where David Caruso outwits master serial killers, with real murders, where detectives end up comforting a remorseful killer who got drunk and killed a friend. (playful) — 00:01:07
★★★ John argues CSI-type shows give the delusion that evil is an uncomplicated thing living inside certain people and not others. — 00:01:07
★★★ John thinks we all deeply want to believe the lie that evil is outside of us, which is why we watch these shows again and again. (hedged) — 00:01:07
★★★ John adds that our brains like stories that make sense, and a key difference between real-life and TV stories is that TV stories make sense. (hedged) — 00:01:36

00:01:36 — Part three: vote to send Kristina Horner to Antarctica; Part four: Ningmaster Tom becomes senior executive nerdfighter

★★ John says there are no Nerdfighters in Antarctica, and asks viewers to vote for Kristina Horner in a contest so she can go there. — 00:01:36 · Nerdfighteria
★ If Kristina reaches Antarctica, John says, there could be videotaped Nerdfighter happy dances on all seven continents. (hedged) — 00:01:36 · Happy dance (practice)
★★ John announces Ningmaster Tom is now officially the senior executive nerdfighter, head of the Ning, who will improve it since the brothers have failed; he urges everyone to go to nerdfighters.com. — 00:01:36 · senior executive nerdfighter, Nerdfighter Ning, nerdfighters.com, Ningmaster

00:02:22 — Thanks to Ningmasters; secret brother Tom runs for office in Cambridge, Massachusetts

★ John thanks all the Ningmasters who have made the Ning awesome for the last several months. — 00:02:22 · Ningmaster, Nerdfighter Ning
★★ John says secret brother Tom is running for office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and asks Cambridge residents to work for or vote for him. — 00:02:22 · secret sibling

00:02:51 — Mock Nerdfighter political agenda; Part five: contest expanded to videos and songs, four winners read; sign-off and new outro

★★ John is excited to see Nerdfighters seeking political office, joking that the Nerdfighter agenda is 'in your pants' book titles and puppy-sized elephants. (playful) — 00:02:51 · Nerdfighteria, in your pants, puppy sized elephant
★★ John expands the paperback giveaway to Paper Towns-related videos and songs as well as 10-word comments, and admits he has more than 14 books. — 00:02:51 · Paper Towns
★★ John names four winners from the contest's first three days and reads their comments, one of which, saying his books changed her life, moved him. — 00:03:20 · Paper Towns

Humor (significant)

John's wall is still standing despite his demolition attempt. — 00:00:00

“the Great Wall Fail of 2009 continues to be both a wall and a fail.”
John imitates a CSI one-liner from David Caruso: 'I don't think you were playing the marimba.' — 00:00:40

“I think you were playing the murderer, Imba.”
John mimics the fantasy that evil is something outside us that we can defeat. — 00:01:07

“Hey, evil, I got you with my screwdriver!”
John says Nerdfighters seeking office can push forward the Nerdfighter political agenda. — 00:02:51

“to mandate the addition of In Your Pants to the end of book titles and to increase funding for the re-evolving of puppy-sized elephants.”

Threads in this video

update · John's house renovation and flooded basement (2009) — John reports the wall is still there ('the Great Wall Fail of 2009'), though he has made some progress. (00:00:00)
callback · Willy as the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts (2008) — John shows the great white wall of cow being ridden by the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts. (00:00:00)
first on record · Is evil found only in certain people, or in all of us? — John argues evil is not an uncomplicated thing living inside certain people; we want to believe the lie that evil is outside us. (00:01:07)
asked · John asks Nerdfighters to vote for Kristina Horner in a contest to go to Antarctica (2009) — John asks Nerdfighters to vote for Kristina Horner in a contest to send her to Antarctica (link in the sidebar). (00:01:36)
milestone · Nerdfighter Ning: the community site launches (2008) — John announces Ningmaster Tom is now officially the senior executive nerdfighter and head of the Ning, to make it better. (00:01:36)
asked · John asks Cambridge, Massachusetts Nerdfighters to work for and vote for secret brother Tom (2009) — John asks Nerdfighters in Cambridge, Massachusetts to work for or vote for secret brother Tom, who is running for office there. (00:02:22)
callback · The brothers' 'secret siblings' (2007) — John calls Tom 'our original secret brother Tom'. (00:02:22)
callback · 'In your pants' suffix game (2007) — John jokes that the Nerdfighter political agenda includes adding 'in your pants' to the end of book titles. (00:02:51)
callback · John's puppy-sized elephant (2008) — John jokes that the agenda includes funding the re-evolving of puppy-sized elephants. (00:02:51)
rule change · 10-word challenge: John gives away a Paper Towns paperback a day for his favourite 10-word comment (2009) — John adds Paper Towns-related videos and songs to the giveaway, alongside 10-word comments. (00:02:51)
asked · John asks Nerdfighters to make Paper Towns videos or songs for the paperback contest (2009) — John invites Nerdfighters to make a Paper Towns video or song for the contest. (00:02:51)
milestone · 10-word challenge: John gives away a Paper Towns paperback a day for his favourite 10-word comment (2009) — John announces four winners from the first three days of the contest, saying he has more than 14 books, and reads their comments. (00:03:20)
result reported · John asks viewers to leave 10-word comments on YouTube or the Ning to win Paper Towns paperbacks (2009) — John reads the winning 10-word comments and summaries left by viewers. (00:03:20)
callback · John's LOLbooks: LOLcat-style book blurbs (2008) — John reads a winner's LOLcat-style summary of Paper Towns: 'I'm in your minivans, peeing in your bluefin bottles'. (00:03:20)
callback · Willy's secret shame: his downward-bent tail (2009) — A winning viewer comment, read by John, jokes that to end his shame Willy needs 'Viwagra'. (00:03:20)
thanks · John asks Nerdfighters to apply to be Ningmasters with a Ning blog post (2009) — John thanks all the Ningmasters who have made the Ning awesome for the last several months. (00:02:22)