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ALL THE SHIRTS (and some paths to community)

2014-05-27 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Global development, Sports) · mode: Personal essay · tags: fundraising ask, community lore, self promotion, timely hook

Wearing all 32 World Cup shirts while updating on his sarcoma fundraiser and community projects, John argues that Nerdfighteria offers many ways to connect and that the best connections help us look at the universe more broadly: it is less what you like than how you like it.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Sports and art updates; the dichotomy is a lie; many shirts today

  • ★★ John says sports and art are supposed to be opposites, but that dichotomy, like so many dichotomies, is a lie. (playful) — 00:00:01

00:00:12 — World Cup support auction: 32 nations' gear, nearly $6,000 raised, proceeds now to sarcoma research with a 3-to-1 match

  • ★★★ John is auctioning off his World Cup support and has acquired gear from all 32 nations; donating via the link buys his love for a country, tax-deductible in the US. (playful) — 00:00:12
  • ★★★ So far the plan has raised nearly $6,000 for the Foundation to Decrease World Suck; starting today all proceeds go to sarcoma research. — 00:00:35 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, world suck
  • ★★ Sarcoma is the cancer Augustus Waters has in The Fault in Our Stars, and lots of real people have it; John hates it. — 00:00:45 · Augustus Waters, The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★★ For every dollar donated John will donate three, making each dollar worth four, and he will support the donor's chosen team, unless someone else pays more. — 00:00:53
  • ★ As things stand John will support Ivory Coast against Colombia, and has learned several songs about Kolo Touré. (playful) — 00:01:06

00:01:15 — AFC Wimbledon avoids relegation; the Wimbly Womblys; FIFA players and the TFiOS film as ones and zeros

  • ★★ Nerdfighteria uses ad proceeds from a FIFA video series to sponsor AFC Wimbledon, a fan-owned club that fights homophobia and racism; it finished 20th, avoiding relegation from English football's fourth tier. — 00:01:18 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★ Meanwhile John's fictional FIFA team, the AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys, led by Bald John Green, Other John Green, Seb Brown and Yaya Bamba, is having a great season. (playful) — 00:01:33 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ The film of John's book comes out in ten days, yet he spends most free time worrying about FIFA 14 players made of ones and zeros, as, he notes, is the movie. (playful) — 00:01:41 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

00:01:57 — Community roundup: Nerdcrafteria, The Art Assignment, the Nerdfighter Kiva group, SciShow Space, the events map

  • ★★ John points gamers to Nerdcrafteria, an amazing Nerdfighter Minecraft server that also raises money to decrease world suck: check it out. — 00:02:02 · world suck
  • ★★ Sarah's new show The Art Assignment is going great, with a new assignment from artist Kate Gilmore and a thriving community making everything from gifs to sculptures. — 00:02:11 · The Art Assignment, Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ The Nerdfighter Kiva group is very close to $4 million in total loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. — 00:02:25 · Bank of Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ On Kiva you choose a business person, lend as little as $25 and are repaid over time; a first loan is free. — 00:02:34
  • ★ SciShow Space has a great community of space nerds talking about our big, beautiful and terrifying universe. — 00:02:47 · SciShow Space
  • ★★ Nerdfighteria's new community ambassador Valerie2776 has created a map and calendar of upcoming events and gatherings. — 00:02:55 · Nerdfighteria

00:03:02 — Many ways to connect; it's less what you like than how; Katrovas's lens; what's your lens; all 32 shirts

  • ★★ Even within tiny Nerdfighteria there are many ways to connect: gatherings, The Art Assignment, the Wimbly Womblys. — 00:03:07 · Nerdfighteria, The Art Assignment

  • ★★★ For John the best connections are not just about feeling less alone but about seeing the universe more broadly and enthusiastically; it's less about what you like than how you like it. (hedged) — 00:03:17 · Nerdfighteria

    “For me it’s less about what you like than it is about how you like it.”

  • ★★ Richard Katrovas (quoted): Poet Richard Katrovas, a boxing fan, wrote that boxing serves as a mottled lens unto the bifurcated human heart, whose one true nature is to break apart. — 00:03:37

    “"as a mottled lens / Unto the bifurcated human heart / Whose one true nature is to break apart."”

  • ★★ Responding to Katrovas, John says he'd like to think the human heart has more than one true nature. (hedged) — 00:03:49

  • ★★ John asks Nerdfighters what their lens is these days. — 00:03:49 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ John wore all 32 World Cup shirts in one video. (playful) — 00:03:54

Humor (significant)

  • Wearing a national team's World Cup kit, John doesn't feel ready for world-class soccer. — 00:00:30

    “I feel like a six-year-old dressed for Thanksgiving dinner.”

  • John promises to be the most committed fan in the world of whichever team donors choose. — 00:01:04

    “Unless someone else pays me more.”

  • John frets over the well-being of FIFA 14 players who are technically made of ones and zeros, while his movie comes out. — 00:01:55

    “Although to be fair, so is the movie.”

  • Asked whether he has a point, John says he has two. — 00:03:04

    “First, look how many shirts I can wear in a single video!”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: FIFA World Cup · sarcoma

Also: People: Kate Gilmore · Kolo Touré · Richard Katrovas

Projects: Bank of Nerdfighteria · Foundation to Decrease World Suck · Nerdcrafteria · SciShow Space · The Art Assignment

Works: FIFA 14 · The Fault in Our Stars · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Organizations: AFC Wimbledon · EFL League Two · Kiva

Places: Colombia · Ivory Coast

Characters: AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys · Augustus Waters

Only in the description or credits: Sarah Urist Green · Valerie2776

Also centred on FIFA World Cup: Mmmm....PARTS · You're Gonna Die · GOOOOOOOL!!!! · Who Should We Root For? · Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup · Sports are Dumb

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