Narrowly Avoiding Arrest: Some Airport Insanity

2011-09-16 · letter vlog · John, Josh Lewis, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson · 3:24 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Personal life) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: on location, guest or collab, self promotion, community lore

John vlogs from airports after New York meetings about The Fault in Our Stars: he signs sheets while delayed, frets over his inconsistent signature, is questioned by a police officer for filming a dead-sheep monument, and plugs his FIFA storytelling series on HankGames.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Josh Lewis, Holly Black, Cassie Clare and Maureen Johnson say good morning; John in an airport after New York meetings with his publisher and agent about The Fault in Our Stars

• ★ John tells Hank he has just been greeted by Josh Lewis, Holly Black, Cassie Clare and Maureen Johnson. — 00:00:00 · Maureen Johnson
• ★★ John says he has spent a couple of days in New York meeting his publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel and agent Jodi Reamer about The Fault in Our Stars and wonderful things he can't tell about. — 00:00:22 · New York City, Julie Strauss-Gabel, The Fault in Our Stars

00:00:31 — Signing The Fault in Our Stars during flight delays: 2,000 sheets, a green pen day, Green Day

• ★★ John says when flights are delayed he signs The Fault in Our Stars; he brought 2,000 sheets to sign that day, and it is a green pen day, as it always is. — 00:00:31 · The Fault in Our Stars

00:00:58 — Six hours a day of signing: the illegibility and inconsistency of John's signature, Sarah thinks he is crazy, 'signing madness'

• ★★ John says he spends about six hours a day signing his name, which has made him think about his signature's many shortcomings: it is illegible and inconsistent. — 00:00:58
• ★ John says Sarah thinks he is crazy for seeing tragic flaws in some signatures, but after 57,000 iterations he notices details like the J scribble. (playful) — 00:01:17 · Sarah Urist Green
• ★★ John hopes he is not suffering from 'signing madness', a disease he says he made up. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:55 · signing madness

00:02:00 — Interesting things in the airport; a police officer questions John for filming a monument to a dead sheep; thus ends the vlog

• ★★ John says a police officer asked why he was filming an airport monument to a dead sheep; unsure if it was illegal, the officer said he probably shouldn't. — 00:02:10

00:02:51 — John from the future future: P.S. on his HankGames series playing FIFA while telling life stories, e.g. meeting the Yeti; his calendar

• ★★★ John says that, in older-brother tradition, he has 'stolen' Hank's channel HankGames for a series playing FIFA while telling life stories, such as how he met and courted the Yeti. — 00:02:54 · HankGames, Sarah Urist Green
• ★★ John asks viewers to click his face to watch the FIFA story video and to subscribe if they like it. — 00:03:07 · HankGames

In the description and comments

• ★ In the description John says the entire first printing of The Fault in Our Stars will be signed and suggests today may be the day to order it. — video description · The Fault in Our Stars

Humor (significant)

• John hopes each morning for a purple day, but it is always a green pen day — 00:00:52

  “Oh that would be a good name for a band... Green Day...”

• John lists the little things he notices after 57,000 signatures — 00:01:35

  “whether the hooble-dee-hoo lines up with the whattidy-what in the J.”

• John worries Hank thinks he's crazy and hopes he isn't suffering from signing madness — 00:01:55

  “That's a disease, you know. I made it up, but it's a disease.”

• A police officer asks why John is filming a monument to a dead sheep; after a long stare John asks — 00:02:27

  “"Is it illegal?" and he said, "I don't know!"”

Threads in this video

• progress update · John: sign every copy of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — John signs The Fault in Our Stars sheets in airports during flight delays; he brought 2,000 sheets to sign that day and signs about six hours a day. (00:00:31)
• first use · John's 'signing madness' from signing every copy of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — John hopes he is not suffering from signing madness, a disease he says he made up. (00:01:55)
• launched · John's FIFA career with Swindon Town, 'The Miracle of Swindon Town' (2011) — John starts a series on HankGames in which he plays FIFA, as the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers, while telling stories of his life, beginning with how he met the Yeti. (00:03:02)
• reminder · John points viewers to pre-order The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — In the description John says the whole first printing of The Fault in Our Stars will be signed and suggests ordering it today. (video description)
• milestone · HankGames: Hank's channel of commentated game-play videos (2010) — John says that, in older-brother tradition, he has 'stolen' Hank's channel HankGames for a series playing FIFA while telling life stories, such as how he met and courted the Yeti. (00:02:54)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John's 'signing madness' from signing every copy of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — running joke (last seen 2011); last: callback, 2011-11-02
• John: sign every copy of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — kept; last: recalled, 2024-12-31
• HankGames: Hank's channel of commentated game-play videos (2010) — last documented in 2018 (looked back on in 2023)
• John's FIFA career with Swindon Town, 'The Miracle of Swindon Town' (2011) — completed; last: outcome, 2013-11-05

Mentioned

Central: The Fault in Our Stars

Also: People: Cassandra Clare · Holly Black · Jodi Reamer · Josh Lewis · Julie Strauss-Gabel · Maureen Johnson · Sarah Urist Green

Projects: HankGames

Works: FIFA (video game series)

Groups: Green Day

Terms: signing madness

Places: monument to a dead sheep (airport) · New York City

Characters: Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers

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