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Good News/Bad News: A Pizzamas Video in Nine Slices

2016-11-15 · list · John · 3:29 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature (also: Sports, Pop culture, Books & writing) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, calendar ritual, self promotion, community lore

On the ninth day of Pizzamas John gives nine parts alternating good and bad news: flat global carbon emissions vs. 2016 as the hottest year, AFC Wimbledon's success, Leonard Cohen's death, and great new books, with merch plugs and a Question Tuesday call.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Part 1, intro: ninth day of Pizzamas, video in nine parts

  • ★ John says it is the ninth day of Pizzamas, so the video comes in nine parts. — 00:00:02 · Pizzamas

00:00:08 — Part 2, promotion: few days left to order Pizzamas merch (Pizza John shirts, PJs) from DFTBA.com

00:00:20 — Part 3, good news: global carbon emissions nearly flat in 2016, third year without growth; not enough for 2 °C, but growth and poverty reduction without more emissions

  • ★★★ John reports, as underreported good news, that global carbon emissions are expected to be nearly flat in 2016, a third straight year without growth. — 00:00:31 · climate change
  • ★★ John says this is not good enough: emissions are still far too high to limit post-industrial warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. — 00:00:41 · climate change
  • ★★★ John says flat emissions show humanity can reach its other goals without increasing emissions: the global economy grew about 3% this year (2016) while poverty and disease burden fell. — 00:00:48 · climate change

00:00:58 — Part 4 (said 'three'), bad news: UN says 2016 almost certainly hottest year on record, likely until 2017; climate change is real and human-caused

  • ★★★ John reports that the UN says 2016 will almost certainly be the hottest year in recorded human history. — 00:01:00 · climate change
  • ★★ John says that, worrisomely, 2016's record will likely only stand until 2017. (hedged) — 00:01:05 · climate change
  • ★★★ John says climate change is real, humans are causing it, and people of the future will judge us on how we dealt with it. — 00:01:09 · climate change

00:01:15 — Part 5, good news: AFC Wimbledon's successful first season in the third tier, MK franchise in the relegation zone; best sports timeline

  • ★★ John reports AFC Wimbledon, the fan-owned club with DFTBA on their shorts, are three points from a playoff spot seventeen games into their first third-tier season, while the Milton Keynes franchise is in the relegation zone. — 00:01:16 · AFC Wimbledon, DFTBA, DFTBA Records
  • ★★ John jokes that this proves we live in the best sports timeline of the multiverse and the worst everything-else timeline. (playful) — 00:01:32

00:01:39 — Part 6, promotion: Pizza John hoodie and AFC Wimbledon Nerdfighteria scarf, proceeds to the club

  • ★★ John asks viewers buying a Pizza John hoodie at DFTBA.com to also buy an AFC Wimbledon Nerdfighteria scarf; all proceeds go to the club, which might help them back to the playoffs and Wembley. — 00:01:42 · DFTBA Records, Pizza John, AFC Wimbledon

00:01:55 — Part 7, bad news: Leonard Cohen died; what he meant to John and to Paper Towns; songs in the doobly-doo

  • ★★★ John reports that Leonard Cohen, one of his favorite songwriters, died last week (week of 7 November 2016). — 00:01:57
  • ★★★ John says Leonard Cohen was everything he wants to be when he grows up: empathetic and smart without ever being condescending or cold. — 00:02:00
  • ★★★ John says Leonard Cohen gave him one of the central ideas in his book Paper Towns. — 00:02:05 · Paper Towns
  • ★ John puts links to some of his favorite Leonard Cohen songs in the doobly-doo (the description lists Suzanne, Bird on a Wire, Tower of Song and The Future). — 00:02:08 · doobly-doo

00:02:13 — Part 8, good news: great art is still being made; John's teenage paper on Dostoevsky; What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours; holiday gift book roundup; book suggestions

  • ★★★ John says that amid loss there is still great art being made in the world. — 00:02:14
  • ★★ At 15 John wrote a sincere, terrible English paper arguing there could never be another great work of fiction since Dostoevsky was dead; months later Song of Solomon and Angels in America made him retract it. (playful) — 00:02:17
  • ★★ John says that twenty years later great books are still being written, and he has recently been completely astonished by What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours. — 00:02:38
  • ★★ John says he will have many more book recommendations in his forthcoming holiday gift book roundup. — 00:02:42
  • ★★ John asks viewers to suggest books to him in the comments. — 00:02:46

00:02:51 — Part 9, outro: Question Tuesday on Thursday, questions in comments; Leonard Cohen's 'crack in everything' lines; end screen with Rosianna's Self Care Bunny

  • ★★ John says he thinks he will close out his part of Pizzamas on Thursday (17 November 2016) with an old-fashioned Question Tuesday. (hedged) — 00:02:52 · Pizzamas, Question Tuesday
  • ★★ John asks viewers to leave questions, ideally brief ones, in the comments. — 00:02:58 · Question Tuesday

  • ★★ John leaves viewers with favorite Leonard Cohen lines: ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering; there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in. — 00:03:02

    “There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.”

  • ★ In the end screen, a Self Care Bunny from Rosianna reminds viewers to take care of themselves because there is only one of them and the world is lucky to have them. (playful) — 00:03:23 · Rosianna Halse Rojas

In the description and comments

  • ★ John thanks Viktorayy for the video's title, far better than the one he originally had. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: AFC Wimbledon · climate change · Leonard Cohen

Also: People: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Projects: DFTBA Records · Pizzamas

Works: AFC Wimbledon scarf · Angels in America · Anthem · Paper Towns · Song of Solomon · What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

Organizations: EFL League One · Milton Keynes Dons F.C. · United Nations

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Terms: DFTBA · doobly-doo · Pizza John

Concepts: economic growth

Places: Wembley Stadium

Only in the description or credits: Bird on the Wire · Rosianna Halse Rojas · Suzanne · The Future · Toni Morrison · Tony Kushner · Tower of Song · Viktorayy

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