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Eating the Unicorn

2011-05-23 · letter vlog · John · 3:30 · watch on YouTube

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

In a five-part letter from Amsterdam John tells of a Google-translated dinner invitation promising someone would eat the unicorn, praises a Nerdfighter's Gus Is a Bug book, says his new book makes him believe in spoilers and asks people not to spoil it, and recommends Tumblr.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Dutch greeting, a post office behind Nerdfighters; the puff on vacation for the Venice Biennale; new suits and a shirt-jacket poll

  • ★★ John says he had to put the puff on vacation and buy a couple of suits because he is getting ready for the very fancy Venice Biennale. (playful) — 00:00:09 · the Puff
  • ★ John asks Nerdfighters whether they like his shirt-jacket combo: he will wear it at a party only if they do. (playful) — 00:00:16 · Nerdfighteria

00:00:23 — Part one: Google Translate and the dinner where someone would eat the unicorn

  • ★★ Over the last month of living in Amsterdam, John has repeatedly used Google Translate on Dutch documents; imperfect, but it gives the sense. — 00:00:26 · Amsterdam
  • ★★ Two nights ago John dined with his Dutch translator and publishing people; the Google-translated document about the dinner ended by saying they did not know who would eat the unicorn. — 00:00:39
  • ★★ John jokes that he volunteered to eat the unicorn at the dinner, but it was not on the menu, so he had the sea bass. (joke) — 00:01:05

00:01:23 — Part two: a Nerdfighter's Gus Is a Bug illustrations made into a book Henry loves

  • ★★ John recalls that when the Yeti was pregnant with Henry, Nerdfighteria illustrated his favourite out-of-print picture book, Gus Is a Bug, so he could read it to Henry. — 00:01:23 · Nerdfighteria, Sarah Urist Green, Henry Green
  • ★★ John says Suzanne Van Leir went the extra mile, turning her Gus Is a Bug illustrations into an actual book that Henry loves, that is, chews on; he calls it amazing. — 00:01:32 · Henry Green

00:01:45 — Part three: John's position on spoilers evolves because his new book is spoilable; please don't spoil it

  • ★★★ John says he long said he doesn't believe in spoilers but, borrowing President Obama's phrase, his position is evolving: he now believes in them. — 00:01:50 · Barack Obama
  • ★★★ John says his position changed because his new book is quite spoilable and he doesn't want it spoiled for readers. — 00:02:04 · John's untitled novel (2011)
  • ★★★ About nine months in advance, John begins asking Hank and Nerdfighteria not to spoil the book. — 00:02:07 · John's untitled novel (2011), Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John says they will work hard to create safe spoilery places, leaving a big unspoiled world outside. — 00:02:13 · John's untitled novel (2011)
  • ★ John says he has started ending sentences with 'yeah?' because people say that in the Netherlands. (playful) — 00:02:26

00:02:28 — Part four: punishments still undecided

  • ★★ John tells Hank they still haven't decided on punishments and need to do that this week (week of 23 May 2011). — 00:02:28 · Punishment

00:02:34 — Part five: the brothers get Tumblrs; Nerdfighter content on Tumblr; follow Eff Yeah Nerdfighters, Hank and John; sign-off

  • ★★ After years as fans of the Eff Yeah Nerdfighters Tumblr, John and Hank both got Tumblrs earlier this month (May 2011), on the same day. — 00:02:34 · Tumblr, Hank Green
  • ★★ John says Tumblr seems to be the top destination for Nerdfighter jokes, Looking for Alaska quotations, DFTBA tattoos, Pizza John jokes and Humpy Hank sites. (hedged) — 00:02:50 · Tumblr, Looking for Alaska (novel), DFTBA, Pizza John, Hank Green
  • ★★ John tells Nerdfighters on Tumblr to follow Eff Yeah Nerdfighters, and also Hank at edwardspoonhands and John at fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com. — 00:03:09 · Tumblr, Hank Green, spoon fingers
  • ★ John calls 'Edward Spoonhands' the most underappreciated Hank song. — 00:03:13

Humor (significant)

  • Google Translate renders the last sentence of a Dutch document about John's dinner with his translator and publishers. — 00:00:45

    “"We do not know which of them will eat the Unicorn."”

  • After sorting dinners into three categories by who eats the unicorn, John arrives at the dinner. — 00:01:05

    “Anyway, Hank, when we got to the dinner I immediately volunteered to eat the unicorn.”

  • John has often said over the years that he doesn't believe in spoilers. — 00:01:54

    “to borrow a phrase from President Obama, my position on spoilers is evolving.”

  • The Yeti is very amused by the Humpy Hank pictures on Tumblr. — 00:03:01

    “when she saw the one where you hump me, she said "It's gone too far".”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Google Translate · Gus Is a Bug · John's untitled novel (2011) · spoiler · Tumblr

Also: People: Barack Obama · Henry Green · John's Dutch translator · Sarah Urist Green

Projects: Eff Yeah Nerdfighters

Works: Edward Spoonhands · Looking for Alaska (novel)

Rituals: Punishment

Terms: DFTBA · doobly-doo · fishing boat proceeds (“fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com”) · nerdfightastic · Pizza John · the Puff

Places: Amsterdam · Bruges

Events: Venice Biennale

Characters: Voldemort

Myths: unicorn

Also centred on Gus Is a Bug: Gus Is A Bug · Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · GUS HAS NO FUZZ!

Also centred on spoiler: Ranting about Books · I Want You to Know Nothing About This

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