John Green's Blog, page 60

Stone Babies and Catacombs: VIENNA (Thoughts from Places)

A Thoughts from Places video In which John Green discusses a trip to Vienna, Austria (or Wien, as it is known to locals)--from the catacombs of St. Stephens Cathedral to the Albertina Museum.

Several jokes in this video are direct references to these two classic episodes of the show with ze frank: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archiv... and http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archiv...

The Green Pad joke is a reference to a previous vlogbrothers video; it was created by nerdfighter Robfromcornwall: http://www.youtube.com/robfromcornwall2

Thoughts from Places: On a Horse

In which Hank expands the idea of "places" a little bit and talks about the domestication of horses and his very limited experience being on a horse.

If you're wondering, this video was filmed in Fairview N.C., outside of Asheville

I'm Not Going Down: Thoughts from Amsterdam

A thoughts from Places video In which John Green discusses his trip from Indianapolis to Amsterdam in the Netherlands (where his novel Paper Towns is a finalist for a literary prize).

HARRY POTTER SONG!

In which Hank sings "This is Not Harry Potter. Lyrics below.

Also, join Hank as he plays games at http://www.youtube.com/hankgames


Something just occured to me as I was reading
another book I'd heard was the next big thing
I thought what would I give, if it could be true
If I could ever feel again the way I felt when I read you
I'd pay a million galeons
Or Dress up like I go to beauxbatons
I'd tattoo my head with a lighting bolt
I'd pawn my wand and firebolt
But no matter how many good things I'm told
Everything I ever read turns out to be leprechaun gold

It's been so many years no matter how I try
to read more young adult fiction
I keep coming up dry
it's like water water everywhere and not a drop to drink
my frustration and my agony have pushed me to the brink
I keep tilting back the glass but I never taste the water
it seems no matter what I read I think "this is not harry potter."

I was pretty impressed with frankie landau banks
but compare saving the world with a few epic pranks
There is no monoploy on non-human people
there's faerie's buggers talking cats and nac mac feegle
And thirteen little blue envelopes
Was fantastic but my sneakoscope
would be flashing and spinning if I said
That it was the best book I've read
And you gotta know that this is no joke
That I also read books that my own brother wrote

It's been so many years no matter how I try
to read more young adult fiction
I keep coming up dry
it's like water water everywhere and not a drop to drink
my frustration and my agony have pushed me to the brink
I keep tilting back the glass but I never taste the water
it seems no matter what I read I think "this is not harry potter."

And in the darkest hours, of my darkest nights
I found myself curled up with twilight
And I couldn't help but wonder as I ravenously read
can you avada kedavra the undead
'cause edward cullen totally has it comin'
and if he saw voldemort he'd better start runnin'
cause there's not much that the dark lord and i
could agree on but I think that we would both hate that guy
Sir nicholas de mimsy porpington
Is a character name that, all by itself, is better than breaking dawn

It's been so many years no matter how I try
to read more young adult fiction
I keep coming up dry
President Snow is no voldemort
Diagon Alley is cooler than Ankh Mor Pork
And Lyra Silvertoungue is Mrs. Coulter's Daughter
That's a good plot twist but it is not harry potter.

CHORDS
lyrics
[A] - - - [G] - - -
[A] - - - [G] - - -
D A G D
G D A D
F#m - G -
A - - - D - - -
G - - - A - - -

CHORUS
D - G D
A - G D
F#m - G -
A - - -
D - G -
A - - -
G - - -
D - - -

Hey! You! Fix the Budget!

Fix the Budget: http://dft.ba/-58L Pizza shirts: http://dftba.com/pizza In which John discusses the New York Times's web-based application allowing each of us to examine the extent and complexity of the United States federal budget deficit and the difficulty of balancing the budget. Do we increase taxes or cut spending? Or, more plausibly but less politically viable, both raise taxes and lower spending? Also there is some talk of pizza shirts.

Thanks to Karen Kavett for the graphics: http://www.youtube.com/xperpetualmotion

Blood!!!

In which Hank gives a liter of his life away because someone needs it more than him, and introduces the biology of the human circulatory system.

Thanks to Karen Kavett for the graphics: http://www.youtube.com/xperpetualmotion

REIGN OF TERROR: The French Revolution, Part III

Awesome design all by Karen Kavett: http://www.youtube.com/xperpetualmotion

In which John Green completes his introduction to the history of the French Revolution, discussing the rise of the Committee of Public Safety, Maxmillien Robespierre, the reign of terror, the guillotine, the death of Marie Antoinette, the Directory, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, and some thoughts on why we study history in the first place.

Headless Monarchy: The French Revolution, Part II

Design by the amazing Karen Kavett: http://www.youtube.com/xperpetualmotion

In which John Green continues his introduction to the history of the French Revolution, discussing Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's flight to Varennes, the constituent assembly's attempts to write a constitution of France, France's brief experiment with constitutional monarch, war with Austria and Prussia and then eventually the rest of Europe, and the rise of the French Republic--also guillotines and the use of the guillotine in Revolutionary France.

Probability 101

In which Hank discusses the basics of probability, the art of finding meaning in randomness. And it's there, it's all over, everywhere! Master these simple rules and you'll always know what's coming...except not really.

Thanks to Karen Kavett for the graphics! http://www.youtube.com/xperpetualmotion

God and Grain: The French Revolution, Part I

Designed by the amazing Karen Kavett: http://www.youtube.com/xperpetualmotion
In which John discusses the causes of the French Revolution and its initial events, including the French debt crisis under King Louis XVI, the convocation of the estates general, the rise of the third estate, the formation of the National Assembly, the tennis court oath at Versailles, the storming of the Bastille, the women's march, and the moving of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to Paris.

This is part of a four-video series designed to see whether we can make genuinely educational videos--the kind of videos that could actually help people learn the big and important things they have to learn in school. Nerdfighters gave us permission to make the videos longer than four minutes, so....no punishment. Let us know how we're doing.