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Lust and Folly in London and Edinburgh

2010-08-16 · letter vlog · John, Alex Day, Charlie McDonnell, Ningmaster Tom · 3:39 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Philosophy & meaning, Books & writing, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Personal update · tags: on location, guest or collab, community lore, self promotion

John recounts his weekend in London and Edinburgh supporting the UK Paper Towns release, from a lust-inducing handbag ad and YouTuber friends to an overflowing club reading and nerdfighters on an Edinburgh hill, and concludes that we choose what we care about and spend our resources on, unconscious choices included, and that community helps us choose better.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — London morning: a store orders him to lust for a red purse, Starbucks hypocrisy; Alex Day and Charlie McDonnell's flat, tea and a magazine quiz

  • ★★ In London a department store 'ordered' John to lust for a red purse; he mocks a consumer mania in which wanting a handbag no longer suffices and you must be sexually attracted to it. (playful) — 00:00:02 · London
  • ★ Right afterwards John got Starbucks and, he says, felt waves of hypocrisy. (playful) — 00:00:02
  • ★★ John visited Alex Day and Charlie McDonnell at their flat: Charlie made tea, Alex read a quiz from Pick Me Up magazine, to which he has a two-year subscription, and they watched YouTube. — 00:00:02 · YouTube

00:00:42 — Watching YouTube; Piccadilly Circus with Ningmaster Tom, Lidewij and Tobias; Funland; Leicester Square, Big Ben, Newton's house

  • ★★ At Piccadilly Circus John met Ningmaster Tom, Lidewij and Nerdfighter Tobias, to whom his half of Will Grayson, Will Grayson is dedicated; they went to Funland, mostly simulated murder. — 00:00:42 · Will Grayson, Will Grayson, Ningmaster
  • ★ John saw Leicester Square, Big Ben, a place where Isaac Newton lived and a damaged bust of Newton, which reminded him of an American general's last words. — 00:00:42

00:01:12 — Newton's busted bust; nerdfighters at a bookstore; the East End basement-club reading with musicians draws too many people, two shows

  • ★★ John met many nerdfighters at a bookstore who said good morning to Hank; one had a ukulele version of Hank's guitar and many were in the PEN15 Club. — 00:01:12 · Nerdfighteria, PEN15 Club
  • ★★ With his secret sister Rosianna, John went to an East End basement club to read while three musicians, including Tom Milsom and Alex Day, played. — 00:01:12 · Rosianna Halse Rojas, secret sibling
  • ★★★ John feared nobody would come to the club, which rarely hosts book signings, but too many came, so they held two shows, one in the club and one upstairs; a magical night for him. — 00:01:12

00:02:00 — A magical night, the Mick Jagger's son remark; overnight train to Edinburgh; nerdfighters on a hill say good morning to Hank

  • ★ The club's owner told John it was the most people they'd had since Mick Jagger's son played there. — 00:02:00
  • ★★ After staying up almost all night, John took a train to Edinburgh, where nerdfighters on a beautiful hill said good morning to Hank and songsfrompaul sang. — 00:02:00 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John tells Hank he sometimes feels his job is to travel the world so everyone who wants to say good morning to Hank can. (playful) — 00:02:00

00:02:44 — Songs from Paul, Hogwartsian Edinburgh, the unfinished Parthenon 'Folly'; reflection on choosing what we lust after and spend our breaths on; community; sign-off

  • ★★ John says Edinburgh's 'Folly' got its name because builders tried to replicate the Parthenon but ran out of money. — 00:02:44
  • ★★★ John argues we choose what we care about and spend resources on, what we lust after, watch, like and build; unconscious choices (handbag, Starbucks, Snooki) leave us no less responsible. — 00:03:00
  • ★★★ John says he is happiest as part of a community that helps him choose more intelligently and with greater empathy, and likes the choices made that weekend, thanking Nerdfighteria and Hank. — 00:03:14 · Nerdfighteria

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • A department store ad orders John to lust for a red purse; once it was enough just to want a handbag. — 00:00:02

    “you have to feel sexually attracted to your handbags”

  • Right after mocking the handbag ad, John buys Starbucks. — 00:00:02

    “felt the waves of hypocrisy wash over me. I hate myself.”

  • John explains what YouTube nerds do when they meet in real life. — 00:00:42

    “We watched YouTube.”

  • The club owner says it's the most people since Mick Jagger's son played there. — 00:02:00

    “Admittedly, I didn't know Mick Jagger had a son, but still.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: basement club in London's East End · Edinburgh · London · National Monument of Scotland

Also: People: Alex Day · Charlie McDonnell · Craig Benzine · Ed Blann · Isaac Newton · Lidewij · Mick Jagger · Ningmaster Tom · Paul · Rosianna Halse Rojas · Snooki · Tobias (community member, mentioned from 2010) · Tom Milsom

Works: Elevator Action Death Parade · Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Organizations: Pick Me Up · Starbucks · YouTube

Terms: secret sibling

Concepts: consumerism

Places: Big Ben · Funland · Leicester Square · Parthenon · Piccadilly Circus · Scotland

Characters: Hogwarts

Memes: PEN15 Club

Only in the description or credits: Paper Towns · United Kingdom

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