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JOIN THE PEN15 CLUB!!

2010-08-10 (said on 2010-08-09 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · letter vlog · Hank · 3:53 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life (also: Nerdfighteria, World affairs) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: timely hook, self promotion, song or performance

Prodded by an 'evil Hank' alter ego to make a quick video, Hank comments on a study of earlier puberty and Wyclef Jean's bid for Haiti's presidency, tells his middle-school PEN15 Club story with a mock-inspirational moral, and gives channel updates.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Home at 7 after a weekend of travel, Hank must make a video fast; evil Hank orders him to stop stalling

  • ★ Hank says the epic travel vlogs they've been doing are part of the future of vlogging, but he won't do one today. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ After traveling a lot that weekend, Hank just got home at 7 o'clock and must make a video fast without knowing what it will be about. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Evil Hank: An 'evil Hank' alter ego berates Hank to stop stalling and be interesting, says this is his job now, and directs each part of the video. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — News: study finds girls reaching puberty earlier; Wyclef Jean running for president of Haiti without political experience or French; evil Hank cuts off the Google-Verizon item

  • ★★ Hank reports a study published that day finding that young girls are hitting puberty earlier, or at least developing breasts earlier. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank finds this disturbing because something about how we live is evidently affecting children hormonally (and, jokingly, because people study girls' breasts for a living). — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank reports Wyclef Jean is running for president of Haiti, with his supposed strength being that he is not a politician and doesn't know Haitian politics. (hedged) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank argues not being a politician is no strength: to an extent you want the person fixing your car to be a mechanic with the right tools. (hedged) — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Hank says it would be nice if Wyclef Jean spoke French, which he calls the language Haitians speak, asking how one can run a country without talking to people. — 00:00:58

00:01:27 — Embarrassing story: joining the PEN15 Club in middle school, demonstrated on his arm, with a mock-inspirational moral; a weird internet clip

  • ★★★ In middle school a cool kid asked Hank to join the 'pen 15 club'; craving acceptance he agreed and got 'pen 15' written on his hand, which reads as 'penis'. (playful) — 00:01:27 · PEN15 Club
  • ★★ In a mock-inspirational moral, Hank says he is proud to be in the PEN15 Club with everyone else in it and came through that moderate adversity stronger, because he must be himself. (parody) — 00:01:56 · PEN15 Club

00:02:50 — Updates: passed by Toby Turner and Freddie Wong to 83rd, song with Andrew Gregory, Eff Yeah Nerdfighters Tumblr at 5,000 followers, John as a meme; sign-off

  • ★ Evil Hank plays an unexplained internet clip (per the description, a weird Taiwanese video about Snooki) and says it is just an internet thing. (playful) — 00:02:50
  • ★★ Hank reports that despite Toby Turner's efforts the Vlogbrothers did not stay 81st; they are now 83rd, passed by Toby Turner and Freddie Wong. — 00:02:50 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Hank says he sang a little song about a bedroom intruder with Andrew Gregory of the Gregory Brothers and invites viewers to check it out. — 00:02:50
  • ★★ Hank says the Tumblr Eff Yeah Nerdfighters has 5,000 followers and asks viewers to follow it too. — 00:02:50 · Tumblr
  • ★ Hank shows John an image from the Tumblr and tells him he is a meme. (joke) — 00:03:31 · John Green

Humor (significant)

  • Hank gives his second reason a study of earlier puberty is disturbing. — 00:00:29

    “it means that there are people in the world who study young girls' breasts for a living.”

  • Hank fumbles writing 'pen 15' on his hand to demonstrate the prank and moves to his arm. — 00:01:56

    “And it looks like it says penis.”

  • Hank delivers a mock-inspirational moral about being proud to be in the PEN15 Club, and evil Hank responds. — 00:01:56

    “Oh my god, you are such a nerd.”

  • Signing off with 'PEN15' written on his arm from the demonstration. — 00:03:31

    “So yeah, that's gonna be hard to wash off.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Wyclef Jean

Also: Eff Yeah Nerdfighters · Freddie Wong · Google · Haiti · PEN15 Club (“do you want to join the pin 15 club”) · Sharpie · Toby Turner · Verizon

Only in the description or credits: Andrew Gregory · Evil Hank · Snooki · The Gregory Brothers

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