(Dominican children) Buenos Dias!
Good morning Hank, it's Thursday, June 28th. Welcome to my new backyard. Hank today we're gonna learn how to be microfinanciers. It's kinda like being a regular financier, only it's free, and instead of being evil it's good. Hank, the Dominican Republic resort we stayed at was pretty swank, but we took one day to go to the real Dominican Republic, where, like, regular people live. And what we learned there was that regular people in the Dominican Republic live in poverty. In fact, about 60% of people live in extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic, and about half of those people live on less than one dollar a day. People in extreme poverty have almost no interaction with regular banking. In fact, when we were there we saw people who didn't know if you signed a check on the front or on the back.
They don't have any opportunity to have access to banking because they don't have the kind of collateral that loans require. So they end up in this cycle of poverty, right, where they can't get a loan to get a business, and without a small business they don't have any job opportunities because there aren't really any jobs because the economy doesn't function very well and the reason the economy doesn't function well is because no one can get loans to start businesses.
So microfinance organizations take the poorest of the poor and they offer them opportunities. Now the only type of other loan that these people can get are from loan sharks, who often charge a thousand percent annual interest. Hank when we were in the Dominican Republic we met with that wonderful group of women who were just about to graduate from their microfinance training. They'd spent five weeks learning the basics of banking and also thinking about what kind of businesses they were going to start, and then we showed up for their graduation ceremony which was held in their neighborhood.
The woman on the bottom left in this picture was opening up a shoe store, the woman next to her was going to sell Avon products. The woman directly two rows behind her was opening up a cafeteria.
Here's the remarkable thing about this microfinance organization we met with: Their loan payback rate is more than 98%. That's higher than like, most American banks. Because these women know that this is an excellent opportunity to have a chance to get out of poverty, they're really good about paying back their loans. And then once they pay back that loan, they take out larger loans to continue to grow their business. In fact, as we were driving back from that neighborhood, we saw a sprawling complex of restaurants that was all started by one woman who got one one hundred and eighty dollar microfinance loan.
Hank, I think we can agree- (coughs) hold on. (coughs) I swallowed a gnat. Stupid nature. Hank, I think we can agree that microfinance is an awesome idea. The problem is that usually the people who start these microfinance organizations are like really really rich. However, there is now this amazing website, kiva.org, K-I-V-A-.-O-R-G that allows you to be a microfinancier. You give money directly to someone who's living in extreme poverty, and then they pay you back. Hank, it's like charity, only it doesn't cost you any money!
So, Hank, as a project, I propose that you and I over the next week give several gifts to Kiva.org. Maybe the Nerdfighters will join us. Hank, I've gotta go back inside and paint my office, I'll see you tomorrow. (cute Dominican children)
Showing posts with label Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Project. Show all posts
Sunday, November 7
June 25: Dum De Dum De Dum De Readn' a Book
Good morning John, it's Monday June 25th, and I don't have time to talk to you right now. I'm sorry, I'm finishing a book.
(sings) Dum de dum de dum de readin a book.
Dum de dum de dum de readin a book.
Oh dumble de dum de dum dum
Dum de dum de dum
Dum de dum de dum de readin a book.
(spoken outside) John, I've been meaning to as you something. I guess it's pretty normal for adults to write books for kids, but is it normal for adults to read books for kids? I know you do it, but you can call it "research." But I read books for kids cause I like books for kids. I mean, not usually books for kids as much as books for young people. (holds up The Subtle Knife) I'm fairly certain that this book was written for kids. But it's really good. I like it a lot. The worst thing is when I read books for adults I often really don't like them very much.
I'm honestly not sure what the difference is, like I've read a lot of adult books that have really young main characters, person who lives in that house right over there, in her book the main character was 13, but the book was marketed at adults. In this book the main character is 12, but the book is marketed at 12 year olds. To me it seems like the only real difference is that that book was a lot more believable, and this book is a lot more fun.
You'll notice that I've decided to record this video blog in my front yard. This is part of a project of mine. I got really comfortable making video blogs downstairs. So comfortable, in fact, that I was screaming and yelling at the camera, and I was really excited all the time, and people were commenting on that, and they were excited by it, but the fact was I could only be like that in my basement. So last video I went into my side yard where people couldn't see me because there's a fence around it. And I tried to be myself and be exuberant in my side yard. And today I'm moving into my front yard, where people can see me. Because there are roads all around me and no fences. And the idea is that I will soon be able to be my video blogging self in places with lots of people. And slowly I can move further and further away from my basement while still making videos and still not being really preoccupied with the fact that there might be a car driving by, or a person on a bike looking at me, or a neighbor looking out of their house wondering what the heck their neighbor is doing sitting in his front yard talking at a camera which is sitting on top of a stool. I need to get a tripod.
Now, I'm basing this strategy on how we've trained our cat to take walks. First we just took her onto the back porch, and then we took her into the side yard, and then we took her onto the sidewalk, and then we took her into the front yard, and now she can pretty much go to the front yard, and that's as far as she's gonna get. I think. Uh- she doesn't like going anywhere else. So I'm gonna try and break past that barrier that Cameo can't seem to break through. I don't know if I'm gonna make it. But I'm gonna try.
Now, John, I hope you're OK with me leaving you to do whatever you're doing because right now I have to read my book a lot. John, I will see you tomorrow.
(Brotherhood 2.0 logo) (shot of Hank reading, looks at camera) Oh my God, stop bothering me! I'm reading!
(Brotherhood 2.0 logo) (inside) and congratulations to Nerdfighter Ashley L. On her marriage today. Getting married on a Monday? That's kinda weird. Uuhhuuh. Congratulations!
(sings) Dum de dum de dum de readin a book.
Dum de dum de dum de readin a book.
Oh dumble de dum de dum dum
Dum de dum de dum
Dum de dum de dum de readin a book.
(spoken outside) John, I've been meaning to as you something. I guess it's pretty normal for adults to write books for kids, but is it normal for adults to read books for kids? I know you do it, but you can call it "research." But I read books for kids cause I like books for kids. I mean, not usually books for kids as much as books for young people. (holds up The Subtle Knife) I'm fairly certain that this book was written for kids. But it's really good. I like it a lot. The worst thing is when I read books for adults I often really don't like them very much.
I'm honestly not sure what the difference is, like I've read a lot of adult books that have really young main characters, person who lives in that house right over there, in her book the main character was 13, but the book was marketed at adults. In this book the main character is 12, but the book is marketed at 12 year olds. To me it seems like the only real difference is that that book was a lot more believable, and this book is a lot more fun.
You'll notice that I've decided to record this video blog in my front yard. This is part of a project of mine. I got really comfortable making video blogs downstairs. So comfortable, in fact, that I was screaming and yelling at the camera, and I was really excited all the time, and people were commenting on that, and they were excited by it, but the fact was I could only be like that in my basement. So last video I went into my side yard where people couldn't see me because there's a fence around it. And I tried to be myself and be exuberant in my side yard. And today I'm moving into my front yard, where people can see me. Because there are roads all around me and no fences. And the idea is that I will soon be able to be my video blogging self in places with lots of people. And slowly I can move further and further away from my basement while still making videos and still not being really preoccupied with the fact that there might be a car driving by, or a person on a bike looking at me, or a neighbor looking out of their house wondering what the heck their neighbor is doing sitting in his front yard talking at a camera which is sitting on top of a stool. I need to get a tripod.
Now, I'm basing this strategy on how we've trained our cat to take walks. First we just took her onto the back porch, and then we took her into the side yard, and then we took her onto the sidewalk, and then we took her into the front yard, and now she can pretty much go to the front yard, and that's as far as she's gonna get. I think. Uh- she doesn't like going anywhere else. So I'm gonna try and break past that barrier that Cameo can't seem to break through. I don't know if I'm gonna make it. But I'm gonna try.
Now, John, I hope you're OK with me leaving you to do whatever you're doing because right now I have to read my book a lot. John, I will see you tomorrow.
(Brotherhood 2.0 logo) (shot of Hank reading, looks at camera) Oh my God, stop bothering me! I'm reading!
(Brotherhood 2.0 logo) (inside) and congratulations to Nerdfighter Ashley L. On her marriage today. Getting married on a Monday? That's kinda weird. Uuhhuuh. Congratulations!
Saturday, November 6
June 19: GOOD LUCK JOHN
Good morning John it's Tuesday, June 19th!
(singing) I'm back in the basement again! I'm back in the basement again! I'm mostly underground and you can't hear a sound, 'cause I'm back in the basement again!
(spoken) It's pretty comfortable down here. I, uh, made a little nest for myself. Where I can nuzzle up. And, uh, come down here when it's too hot outside. (singing) And I'm back in the basement again.
But I don't envy you, having to move out of your house. Having to leave your little studio. I wonder what's gonna to be in the background of all your new videos? Is it still gonna be your bookcase? Or are you gonna do it somewhere else? Maybe Brotherhood 2.0 viewers would like a change of setting every once in awhile. I mean, for awhile people were, you know, impressed by my map of the realm of Narnia, and my floating bookshelves back there. But now nobody talks about that anymore. Maybe I should start filming upstairs, in my bedroom, with the cat. At the Missoula skate park. Maybe some more from downtown Missoula. Or from Target. You know, on-location. Not today, though. But I'd be interested if people had suggestions.
So what's the news, you ask? Oh let me tell you. There's news. (shows mental_floss article he wrote) There's this news. You might not be impressed with this kinda stuff John anymore, but it's still very exciting for me. I can go to Barnes & Noble and be like, hey, I wrote this. That's me. People will gasp, you're famous! Just like that. Famous! And I'll say, you don't know the half of it.
The other day I was wearing my Brotherhood 2.0 in my pants shirt, and a lady came up and asked me about it. I thought that was actually kind of brave of her. I mean, would you go up to somebody who had a t-shirt like that? I mean, I've seen a lot of weird t-shirts in my time, but I don't generally walk up to people and ask them what they're about. There's an idea for a project: asking people about their t-shirts. Gotta find someplace public with lots of t-shirts, and be like, (shows t-shirt) What the- It's the future! He saw it and it's going to crush him! A lot of times there's no explaining. I mean, talking to strangers is fun, right? As long as the t-shirt doesn't say something like, don't talk to me about my t-shirt or I will put forks in you! That would be an amazing t-shirt.
Other news! I was on the Weather Channel. I mean, I knew that they had recorded me, for the Weather Channel, but then suddenly I was actually on the Weather Channel. I missed it, but it will be on again, several times. The show is called "Forecast Earth" I believe. The particular episode is entitled something about hotness, heat, global heat, heating up, heat or heaters, space heater. Space heater? Probably not. It starts out, I think, with John Kerry, and I'm the very end. But that's definitely my first national television appearance, and I'm pretty sure that they mentioned Brotherhood 2.0. (Mouth pop) Hoo hah! (Mouth pop) Hoo hah!
Anyhow, I talked to the Yeti this afternoon, and she and John were in the moving truck, leaving New York. Actually, trying to get out of the city, while in a moving truck, which I'm sure can't be very easy. So, let us all get together, and say, Lucky lucky lucky-lucky-lucky-lucky woo! Good luck getting out of the city and getting to Indianapolis, good luck moving into your new house, good luck doing a video tomorrow, while moving into your new house. Cause that's gonna suck. And thanks for your video, it always sucks leaving a good place. I hope I don't have to do it anytime soon. I'll see you tomorrow. I hope.
(singing) I'm back in the basement again! I'm back in the basement again! I'm mostly underground and you can't hear a sound, 'cause I'm back in the basement again!
(spoken) It's pretty comfortable down here. I, uh, made a little nest for myself. Where I can nuzzle up. And, uh, come down here when it's too hot outside. (singing) And I'm back in the basement again.
But I don't envy you, having to move out of your house. Having to leave your little studio. I wonder what's gonna to be in the background of all your new videos? Is it still gonna be your bookcase? Or are you gonna do it somewhere else? Maybe Brotherhood 2.0 viewers would like a change of setting every once in awhile. I mean, for awhile people were, you know, impressed by my map of the realm of Narnia, and my floating bookshelves back there. But now nobody talks about that anymore. Maybe I should start filming upstairs, in my bedroom, with the cat. At the Missoula skate park. Maybe some more from downtown Missoula. Or from Target. You know, on-location. Not today, though. But I'd be interested if people had suggestions.
So what's the news, you ask? Oh let me tell you. There's news. (shows mental_floss article he wrote) There's this news. You might not be impressed with this kinda stuff John anymore, but it's still very exciting for me. I can go to Barnes & Noble and be like, hey, I wrote this. That's me. People will gasp, you're famous! Just like that. Famous! And I'll say, you don't know the half of it.
The other day I was wearing my Brotherhood 2.0 in my pants shirt, and a lady came up and asked me about it. I thought that was actually kind of brave of her. I mean, would you go up to somebody who had a t-shirt like that? I mean, I've seen a lot of weird t-shirts in my time, but I don't generally walk up to people and ask them what they're about. There's an idea for a project: asking people about their t-shirts. Gotta find someplace public with lots of t-shirts, and be like, (shows t-shirt) What the- It's the future! He saw it and it's going to crush him! A lot of times there's no explaining. I mean, talking to strangers is fun, right? As long as the t-shirt doesn't say something like, don't talk to me about my t-shirt or I will put forks in you! That would be an amazing t-shirt.
Other news! I was on the Weather Channel. I mean, I knew that they had recorded me, for the Weather Channel, but then suddenly I was actually on the Weather Channel. I missed it, but it will be on again, several times. The show is called "Forecast Earth" I believe. The particular episode is entitled something about hotness, heat, global heat, heating up, heat or heaters, space heater. Space heater? Probably not. It starts out, I think, with John Kerry, and I'm the very end. But that's definitely my first national television appearance, and I'm pretty sure that they mentioned Brotherhood 2.0. (Mouth pop) Hoo hah! (Mouth pop) Hoo hah!
Anyhow, I talked to the Yeti this afternoon, and she and John were in the moving truck, leaving New York. Actually, trying to get out of the city, while in a moving truck, which I'm sure can't be very easy. So, let us all get together, and say, Lucky lucky lucky-lucky-lucky-lucky woo! Good luck getting out of the city and getting to Indianapolis, good luck moving into your new house, good luck doing a video tomorrow, while moving into your new house. Cause that's gonna suck. And thanks for your video, it always sucks leaving a good place. I hope I don't have to do it anytime soon. I'll see you tomorrow. I hope.
Tuesday, November 2
March 26th: Stuff on Everyone's Heads!
Good morning, John. It’s Monday, March 26th. I hope you’re feeling better. Last I heard, you were. And if you’re not, you will be soon. I mean, this is awesome.
(Video of a bunch of people with stuff on their heads; music playing is “Thank You (For Not Being One of Them)” by The Mr. T Experience)
Ends with a girl with a lava lamp on her head: Get well soon!
(after the Brotherhood 2.0 logo)
A man with a colored chandelier on his head: I’m going to eat this clove of garlic. (sticks clove of garlic in his mouth)
Woman next to him with a stuffed duck on her head: Yuck.
Man: It kind of hurts.
(Video of a bunch of people with stuff on their heads; music playing is “Thank You (For Not Being One of Them)” by The Mr. T Experience)
Ends with a girl with a lava lamp on her head: Get well soon!
(after the Brotherhood 2.0 logo)
A man with a colored chandelier on his head: I’m going to eat this clove of garlic. (sticks clove of garlic in his mouth)
Woman next to him with a stuffed duck on her head: Yuck.
Man: It kind of hurts.
Woman: Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to be kissing him for quite a long, long time.
(man gags; woman laughs and pats him on the back)
Man: Oh, my God. I think that I just saw God.
Woman: Okay, John, we really hope that your eyeball gets better.
Man: Yep.
Woman: Okay, bye guys!
Man: See ya later. Oh, my God!
(Puppet show behind a plaid sheet and/or couch)
(man gags; woman laughs and pats him on the back)
Man: Oh, my God. I think that I just saw God.
Woman: Okay, John, we really hope that your eyeball gets better.
Man: Yep.
Woman: Okay, bye guys!
Man: See ya later. Oh, my God!
(Puppet show behind a plaid sheet and/or couch)
Hand with a British accent and a plastic bag on its “head”: Look guys! Look what I’ve got on my head!
Two sock puppets: Ron, no! (Ron chokes and then dies)
One of the sock puppets: He’s dead.
The other one: Noooo!!!!
(white screen that reads, “Music: The Mr. T. Experience / Thank You (For Not Being One of Them);” transitions to white screen that reads, “Nerd Fighter Music / Written by Frank Portman, Author of King Dork;” transitions to “Thank you to everyone watching!”; transitions to “And especially to everyone who submitted pictures”
Two sock puppets: Ron, no! (Ron chokes and then dies)
One of the sock puppets: He’s dead.
The other one: Noooo!!!!
(white screen that reads, “Music: The Mr. T. Experience / Thank You (For Not Being One of Them);” transitions to white screen that reads, “Nerd Fighter Music / Written by Frank Portman, Author of King Dork;” transitions to “Thank you to everyone watching!”; transitions to “And especially to everyone who submitted pictures”
Brotherhood 2.0: March 5, 2007: Hank's Punishment
Good morning Hank, it's Monday, March 5th, and I am coming to you from the Yeti’s childhood bedroom. I’m sure that you’ve been thrilled to see the Free Hank movement that’s been going on in the comments. There have been posters (shows a group of rioters with a poster with Hank on it that says, “Free Hank”) and there have even been t-shirts (shows a white t-shirt with an screen print of Hank that says “Free Hank Green”).
Hank, it just goes to show what a vocal minority can do, they can make it seem like you didn’t do anything wrong at all. Like, we’re crazy to think that it was textual communication when you said “See you tomorrow” in text, when you were communicating with me. They'll just be like, “Free Hank”, because we said so; and the rest of us will be all like, “Well, we didn’t make t-shirts saying ‘Punish Hank’, (shrugs) so maybe we should free Hank.” No we shouldn’t free Hank. You committed a punishable offense and ye shall be punished.
However, ye vocal community that is the “Free Hank” movement has gotten me to thinking that maybe my punishment for you shouldn’t be so mean, as your punishments for me have been. So Hank, here’s your punishment; there’s the part that you’ll like: Peeps, and the part that you’ll hate: spending money. First, you will purchase 100 full sized Peeps, they can be pink, they can be yellow, they can be green, they can be whatever color you want, but they must be full-sized, and there must be 100 of them. According to the Internet, that’s going to cost you approximately $19, which I realized will be significantly more painful than waxing your chin, but I’m just getting started.
Then, in a six-minute period, you will eat as many Peeps as you can. Now, Hank, remember, I don’t want anyone to die during Brotherhood 2.0, it’s easy to aspirate on Peeps, please take your time, make sure you chew. Once the six-minute period has ended, you will count the Peeps you have not eaten, you will then distribute those Peeps to worthy recipients in the city of Missoula. Now here’s the catch, however many Peeps you don’t eat in that six-minute period, you will contribute that many dollars to a new bank account that I have set up. The bank account will be known as the Brotherhood 2.0 Fund For Decreasing Suck Levels Worldwide, formerly known as the Brotherhood 2.0 Malitsa and Amy Concert Fund. Hank, we will use your contribution to this fund, and future contributions from us and possibly our viewers in order to increase the overall level of worldwide Awesomeness. For instance, maybe we’ll send Malitsa to a concert, and then after that, maybe we’ll help cure Malaria.
Hank, you can look at this as a punishment, but you can also look at is as a project. We’re starting something here, something important, something that is going to allow us to decrease the overall level of the World Suck. How much are we going to decrease Suck levels? That depends on how many Peeps you eat. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Hank, it just goes to show what a vocal minority can do, they can make it seem like you didn’t do anything wrong at all. Like, we’re crazy to think that it was textual communication when you said “See you tomorrow” in text, when you were communicating with me. They'll just be like, “Free Hank”, because we said so; and the rest of us will be all like, “Well, we didn’t make t-shirts saying ‘Punish Hank’, (shrugs) so maybe we should free Hank.” No we shouldn’t free Hank. You committed a punishable offense and ye shall be punished.
However, ye vocal community that is the “Free Hank” movement has gotten me to thinking that maybe my punishment for you shouldn’t be so mean, as your punishments for me have been. So Hank, here’s your punishment; there’s the part that you’ll like: Peeps, and the part that you’ll hate: spending money. First, you will purchase 100 full sized Peeps, they can be pink, they can be yellow, they can be green, they can be whatever color you want, but they must be full-sized, and there must be 100 of them. According to the Internet, that’s going to cost you approximately $19, which I realized will be significantly more painful than waxing your chin, but I’m just getting started.
Then, in a six-minute period, you will eat as many Peeps as you can. Now, Hank, remember, I don’t want anyone to die during Brotherhood 2.0, it’s easy to aspirate on Peeps, please take your time, make sure you chew. Once the six-minute period has ended, you will count the Peeps you have not eaten, you will then distribute those Peeps to worthy recipients in the city of Missoula. Now here’s the catch, however many Peeps you don’t eat in that six-minute period, you will contribute that many dollars to a new bank account that I have set up. The bank account will be known as the Brotherhood 2.0 Fund For Decreasing Suck Levels Worldwide, formerly known as the Brotherhood 2.0 Malitsa and Amy Concert Fund. Hank, we will use your contribution to this fund, and future contributions from us and possibly our viewers in order to increase the overall level of worldwide Awesomeness. For instance, maybe we’ll send Malitsa to a concert, and then after that, maybe we’ll help cure Malaria.
Hank, you can look at this as a punishment, but you can also look at is as a project. We’re starting something here, something important, something that is going to allow us to decrease the overall level of the World Suck. How much are we going to decrease Suck levels? That depends on how many Peeps you eat. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Brotherhood 2.0: February 20th: Computer Trouble
Good morning, John. It’s Tuesday, February 20th. Why do we always say good morning? It’s never morning when I do this; it’s never morning when you see this. It’s 2:18 here; that means it’s four o’clock there. Jesus, I need to get crackin’.
(shot of dismantled computer) So, the reason my life sucks is somewhere in here. I purchased three computers (holds up 3 fingers) in the last week. Two of them (holds up 2 fingers) went back to Best Buy. One of them (one finger) I knew I was going to take back. The other one (adds second finger) didn’t have a second hard drive bay! What kind of fancy new computer doesn’t have a second hard drive bay?
(Shot of Hank lying near dismantled computer) Anyhow, the good news is this puppy’s working now, and it’s working for you, John Green. This is weird. It looks like I’m part of the machine. Like I’ve suddenly become the third hard drive. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Wikipedia (pronounced wee-kee-pee-dee-uh) could be in your brain. I know kung fu!
Anyway, this computer, now that it’s working, has been helping me do some Brotherhood 2.0 projects. Most importantly, we have our MySpace page, which people are definitely already finding out about because we already have, like, 69 friends. I don’t know how that happened so fast! You posted a little thing on sparksflyup and, boom! Okay, I sent a bulletin to all my friends, too. But it’s very exciting; I’m glad to have friends. Not that I didn’t think that I had friends before; not that I wasn’t appreciative of our Brotherhood 2.0 viewers before. Hopefully we’ve become gigantic on MySpace and then all the MySpace people will become our friends. I’m going crazy about what my eyebrows are doing right now (raises eyebrows with sound of voice). Woo!
Trying to get back into the swing of things here in Montana, but I haven’t been able to because none of my computers work! And my swings dependent upon computers. They’ve thrown of my groove. They’ve thrown off my groove! Anyways, I am absolutely amazed at the response to my survey. That survey post has over 53 comments, and over half of those are surveys. And then, on top of that, there’s surveys on Brotherhood2.com, there’s surveys on other posts, there’s surveys on people’s websites, there’s audio surveys, there’s video surveys. Speaking of which, who the heck is Tom? John, I did not know that we had a secret brother named Tom! He seems like a really nice guy, though. “Hey, I’m Tom. I’m your third brother. You’ve never met me or heard of me, but I have a degree in chemical engineering and a wife and some kids. Surprise!”
To add to my computer frustrations, iMovie keeps locking up before I save because I’m stupid and I haven’t been saving. So I’m just going to do this and finish and say bye because I need to eat something and (through teeth) this is annoying. I’ll see you tomorrow!
(shot of dismantled computer) So, the reason my life sucks is somewhere in here. I purchased three computers (holds up 3 fingers) in the last week. Two of them (holds up 2 fingers) went back to Best Buy. One of them (one finger) I knew I was going to take back. The other one (adds second finger) didn’t have a second hard drive bay! What kind of fancy new computer doesn’t have a second hard drive bay?
(Shot of Hank lying near dismantled computer) Anyhow, the good news is this puppy’s working now, and it’s working for you, John Green. This is weird. It looks like I’m part of the machine. Like I’ve suddenly become the third hard drive. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Wikipedia (pronounced wee-kee-pee-dee-uh) could be in your brain. I know kung fu!
Anyway, this computer, now that it’s working, has been helping me do some Brotherhood 2.0 projects. Most importantly, we have our MySpace page, which people are definitely already finding out about because we already have, like, 69 friends. I don’t know how that happened so fast! You posted a little thing on sparksflyup and, boom! Okay, I sent a bulletin to all my friends, too. But it’s very exciting; I’m glad to have friends. Not that I didn’t think that I had friends before; not that I wasn’t appreciative of our Brotherhood 2.0 viewers before. Hopefully we’ve become gigantic on MySpace and then all the MySpace people will become our friends. I’m going crazy about what my eyebrows are doing right now (raises eyebrows with sound of voice). Woo!
Trying to get back into the swing of things here in Montana, but I haven’t been able to because none of my computers work! And my swings dependent upon computers. They’ve thrown of my groove. They’ve thrown off my groove! Anyways, I am absolutely amazed at the response to my survey. That survey post has over 53 comments, and over half of those are surveys. And then, on top of that, there’s surveys on Brotherhood2.com, there’s surveys on other posts, there’s surveys on people’s websites, there’s audio surveys, there’s video surveys. Speaking of which, who the heck is Tom? John, I did not know that we had a secret brother named Tom! He seems like a really nice guy, though. “Hey, I’m Tom. I’m your third brother. You’ve never met me or heard of me, but I have a degree in chemical engineering and a wife and some kids. Surprise!”
To add to my computer frustrations, iMovie keeps locking up before I save because I’m stupid and I haven’t been saving. So I’m just going to do this and finish and say bye because I need to eat something and (through teeth) this is annoying. I’ll see you tomorrow!
Brotherhood 2.0: January 29th
Good morning, John. It's Monday, January 29th and I'm standing on top of Little Pisgah Mountain, just like you were. (Cut to a shot of a plane flying with jet smoke trails behind it) Dad insisted that I use this plane clip in the video, and I don't know why.
(Cut to Hank) I actually filmed that video three days ago, but you have no way of knowing that. How's that for movie magic? So it's three days later now, and we've done the jaunt to Athens, and I'm at a friend's house. We've been having a good time in Athens. It's a pretty nice city; I suggest you try it on sometime. Today's video is a short video, because last night, my friends and I spent quite a long time creating a project that I would like to share with you, as it is inspired by you! As an added bonus, you will get to see my wife, Katherine. Apparently, she’s not quite the yeti that your wife is, and will occasionally come out in public. Also, you may notice featured in this video, Bryan Nuse and Jesslyn Shields, two of my best friends, who live here in Athens, and assisted me with this project a very great deal.
(Cut to Hank in his friend’s living room) (Singing)
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
(Jesslyn and Bryan enter the shot from the sides) Will you miss me when I'm gone from your pants?
(Cut to Hank) I actually filmed that video three days ago, but you have no way of knowing that. How's that for movie magic? So it's three days later now, and we've done the jaunt to Athens, and I'm at a friend's house. We've been having a good time in Athens. It's a pretty nice city; I suggest you try it on sometime. Today's video is a short video, because last night, my friends and I spent quite a long time creating a project that I would like to share with you, as it is inspired by you! As an added bonus, you will get to see my wife, Katherine. Apparently, she’s not quite the yeti that your wife is, and will occasionally come out in public. Also, you may notice featured in this video, Bryan Nuse and Jesslyn Shields, two of my best friends, who live here in Athens, and assisted me with this project a very great deal.
(Cut to Hank in his friend’s living room) (Singing)
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
(Jesslyn and Bryan enter the shot from the sides) Will you miss me when I'm gone from your pants?
(Katherine enters the shot from the bottom) Will you miss me when I’m gone, gone, gone?
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
(accompaniment begins guitar and tambourine)
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
Will you miss me when I’m gone? From your pants!
Will you miss me when I’m gone, gone, gone?
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
(laughter)
That’s all! There you have it. I’ll see you tomorrow.
You know how some DVDs have bonus features? Well Brotherhood 2.0 has bonus features too, and you’re about to see one. You might expect that “Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?” took more than one take to film. It did. Here’s the first take.
(Cut back to living room)
Will you miss me when I’m gone (from your pants)?
Will… (Group bursts into laughter)
Katherine: That wasn’t even me!
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
(accompaniment begins guitar and tambourine)
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
Will you miss me when I’m gone? From your pants!
Will you miss me when I’m gone, gone, gone?
Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?
(laughter)
That’s all! There you have it. I’ll see you tomorrow.
You know how some DVDs have bonus features? Well Brotherhood 2.0 has bonus features too, and you’re about to see one. You might expect that “Will you miss me when I’m gone from your pants?” took more than one take to film. It did. Here’s the first take.
(Cut back to living room)
Will you miss me when I’m gone (from your pants)?
Will… (Group bursts into laughter)
Katherine: That wasn’t even me!
Brotherhood 2.0: January 15th
Good morning John, it's Monday, January 15th, and I'm sitting in front of the new Brotherhood 2.0 website which you can find at Brotherhood2.com. I'd appreciate any suggestions or comments. The podcast isn't quite working, but we'll get there.
Well, I'm feeling better. I'm not feeling great. But now I've got this voice, it's like not so much of a voice, it's just little popping noises. Aaaaaahh. One of the advantages is that I'm kind of a baritone now. I guess I'm usually a baritone, but maybe I'm a bass? Maybe I'm a bass now.
(sings low) Do not forsake me though you know I must spend...
So I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday. I had to walk up to the lady at the desk because I didn't know where they would keep this book, and I had to say, "I'm looking for a book, it's called We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families," and she said "That's catchy!" So I brought the book home, and then something interesting happened: (uses books as puppets and makes them fight, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families beats Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. All the other ones then gang up on it, and squash it.)
So yeah, it didn't happen. Um, I'm not saying that the Brotherhood 2.0 book club is not a good idea, I'm just saying that right now I'm going to have to avoid your genocide book for a little while. And when I say a little while, I mean, like, less than a week. So I'll probably start it for Brotherhood 2.0 Friday.
Brotherhood 2.0 Agreement Moment! That's right, John and I agreed on something! I think it's a great idea for us for us to do our happy dances for three minutes and thirty seconds. That sounds like a perfect Brotherhood 2.0 project idea! I don't have Daniel Biss, but I do this. (calculator) It's what the University of Montana gave me for all of my hard work. 3.5 minutes times sixty seconds in a minute divided by five seconds per clip is 42 (shows calculator).
Now there are several amazing things about this idea: First, is that you got the math really, very wrong. Second remarkable thing about this idea is that Daniel Biss commented within like, three seconds of you posting the video and told you that you were wrong. It must be very convenient to have your own personal mathematician. I gotta get me one of those! Last, and most remarkable about this idea is that we now know the question. What are you talking about? Oh, sorry! Well, the answer to life, the universe, and everything is forty-two, right? So the question must be, "How many happy dance clips does it take to fill up a Brotherhood 2.0 segment?"
We really are doing some amazing things here.
I've been very impressed by the number and quality of Misprinted Business Card Utilization ideas. Thank you very much, I will be discussing those and other sundrys on Wednesday. John, I'll see you tomorrow.
Well, I'm feeling better. I'm not feeling great. But now I've got this voice, it's like not so much of a voice, it's just little popping noises. Aaaaaahh. One of the advantages is that I'm kind of a baritone now. I guess I'm usually a baritone, but maybe I'm a bass? Maybe I'm a bass now.
(sings low) Do not forsake me though you know I must spend...
So I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday. I had to walk up to the lady at the desk because I didn't know where they would keep this book, and I had to say, "I'm looking for a book, it's called We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families," and she said "That's catchy!" So I brought the book home, and then something interesting happened: (uses books as puppets and makes them fight, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families beats Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. All the other ones then gang up on it, and squash it.)
So yeah, it didn't happen. Um, I'm not saying that the Brotherhood 2.0 book club is not a good idea, I'm just saying that right now I'm going to have to avoid your genocide book for a little while. And when I say a little while, I mean, like, less than a week. So I'll probably start it for Brotherhood 2.0 Friday.
Brotherhood 2.0 Agreement Moment! That's right, John and I agreed on something! I think it's a great idea for us for us to do our happy dances for three minutes and thirty seconds. That sounds like a perfect Brotherhood 2.0 project idea! I don't have Daniel Biss, but I do this. (calculator) It's what the University of Montana gave me for all of my hard work. 3.5 minutes times sixty seconds in a minute divided by five seconds per clip is 42 (shows calculator).
Now there are several amazing things about this idea: First, is that you got the math really, very wrong. Second remarkable thing about this idea is that Daniel Biss commented within like, three seconds of you posting the video and told you that you were wrong. It must be very convenient to have your own personal mathematician. I gotta get me one of those! Last, and most remarkable about this idea is that we now know the question. What are you talking about? Oh, sorry! Well, the answer to life, the universe, and everything is forty-two, right? So the question must be, "How many happy dance clips does it take to fill up a Brotherhood 2.0 segment?"
We really are doing some amazing things here.
I've been very impressed by the number and quality of Misprinted Business Card Utilization ideas. Thank you very much, I will be discussing those and other sundrys on Wednesday. John, I'll see you tomorrow.
Brotherhood 2.0: January 12, 2007
(takes sip of beer) Good morning Hank, it's Friday, January 12th. If you're wondering why I'm drinking a beer in the morning, it's because it's 12:15 in the morning, I have to get up early tomorrow so I'm doing the blog tonight. If you're wondering why I'm drinking Light beer instead of regular beer it's because I'm doing Weight Watchers. I don't like Weight Watchers. I'm tired of eating popcorn. They don't give you enough points! I need more points!
This video blog points is going to consist entirely of ideas. Misprinted business card utilization ideas: if you had a hole punch, a lot of patience, and a lot of dental floss, you could make Katherine a dress. You could eat them while discussing the political situation in Kenya. Since you just got married you could use them to write very terse thank you notes in very small hand-writing. You could use them to wall-paper every room in your dollhouse (everybody thinks you have a dollhouse now!)
Punishment ideas: I'm just going to pick punishment ideas from things that are currently in our living room. Several of our books would make excellent punishments. This is The Continuing History of Apocalypticism. It's 11 hundred pages long. It's pretty punishing. The person who fails to update has to send out a Christmas card next year, and the Christmas card has to include the picture of a baby, someone else's baby. Maybe Emmet Cloud's baby. The person who fails to update has to knit a scarf. That would suck. The person who fails to update has to eat one styrofoam peanut. And finally: Don't you think it would be a good punishment if you had to do your Happy Dance for three minutes and thirty seconds, but you could only do it in five second clips at a time, so you had to have a total of... ah jeez, it's too late to call Daniel, hold on. Seventy? I think? Seventy dances in seventy different locations? That'd be a pretty good punishment. Or maybe that should be a project? Maybe we could intersperse our Happy Dances. you do 35, I do 35. That has some appeal for me, any interest?
This video blog points is going to consist entirely of ideas. Misprinted business card utilization ideas: if you had a hole punch, a lot of patience, and a lot of dental floss, you could make Katherine a dress. You could eat them while discussing the political situation in Kenya. Since you just got married you could use them to write very terse thank you notes in very small hand-writing. You could use them to wall-paper every room in your dollhouse (everybody thinks you have a dollhouse now!)
Punishment ideas: I'm just going to pick punishment ideas from things that are currently in our living room. Several of our books would make excellent punishments. This is The Continuing History of Apocalypticism. It's 11 hundred pages long. It's pretty punishing. The person who fails to update has to send out a Christmas card next year, and the Christmas card has to include the picture of a baby, someone else's baby. Maybe Emmet Cloud's baby. The person who fails to update has to knit a scarf. That would suck. The person who fails to update has to eat one styrofoam peanut. And finally: Don't you think it would be a good punishment if you had to do your Happy Dance for three minutes and thirty seconds, but you could only do it in five second clips at a time, so you had to have a total of... ah jeez, it's too late to call Daniel, hold on. Seventy? I think? Seventy dances in seventy different locations? That'd be a pretty good punishment. Or maybe that should be a project? Maybe we could intersperse our Happy Dances. you do 35, I do 35. That has some appeal for me, any interest?
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