Oinkbarf Pandemic! An Intellectual Response to Swine Flu

[apg16e]

Wait... 2:27 is basically a line from TFIOS :)

[lettuceisgreen123]

0:15 -does that count as a blink?

[OddSocks8991]

Hello Hazel Graze Lancaster and your speech on oblivion

[iflipped4u]

There is so much of that bit about fearing oblivion and no one around to remember humans in The Fault In Our Stars!

[katielinns]

2:31 !! He blinks at 2:31!

[TheJazzMessenger13]

@katielinns False. That was purely the construct of a youtube overlord who felt threatened by the unblinking demi-god that is John Green and who attempted to undermine his great unblinkingness by editing in to this video what *appeared* to be John closing his eyes.

[katielinns]

@TheJazzMessenger13 UHOH. Throw him in the evil baby orphanage! John's videos must be protected from such hackers!

[vadetatimus]

anyone know the title of the essay to which he is referring?

[mthsbandrocks]

Everyone dies. Even John and Hank. This is the most depressing thing I have realized in the past 10 years.

[TheHotsaucekiller]

@mthsbandrocks Don't worry. Because they aren't idiots and are very like-able they are 99.99% less likely to die at an early age

[scatterbrainednerd]

I love re-watching this in the wake of reading TFIOS <3

I relate to it in an entirely different way.

[jmwalker17]

@scatterbrainednerd Seriously - there are so things at the end of the video that found their way into TFiOS. This is my first time re-watching this video since reading the book. Love it.

[ThatOneChick2021]

Whenever I watch John's videos I wear my 'Don't Blink' Doctor Who shirt with a picture of a weeping angel. Because the image of an angel becomes an angel and I like to think that John is not blinking just because of my shirt. Imagination is a nice thing. :)

[ditchfairy]

Oh how this makes me think of TFiOS

[hulaburger2]

tfios...yup



[DaftAnime]

the bust of Poe placed above my chamber door

[Elaegar]

...Watching this AFTER reading the first part of TFiOS makes it somewhat more interesting. And repetivtive....

[hmol257]

Oh John. You always react in interesting ways. In this case, surprising and very different from my own. Probably has something to do with the fact that I've never been a hypochondriac and have always been around people who studied/worked with diseases for a living... but still. Never would have thought at all of the fear of oblivion and so on. Thanks for being your awesome insightful self, even about things that make you irrational and fearful.

[ThisFutureAuthor]

its weird to me how some vlogbrothers videos have 10 times more views than others.

[tatiannafoever]

i had swine flu

[kizzyneetyan]

Hey, that last bit sounds a bit like one of the questions The Fault in Our Stars is reported to bring up, right? I mean when you read the first chapter, fear of oblivion was a pretty big part of it...

[cocaotheobromida]

WOOT! Vaccination, bee-otches!

[MoonytheWolf]

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A POE BUST?! :D

[kathyseven13]

Anyone else notice the similarities between this rant and Hazel's soliloquy in the first chapter of TFiOS?

[nc90000]

pandemic makes me hate madagascar

[Tropiduridae]

@nc90000 How could that make you hate Madagascar?! I'd catch every flu out there if it meant I get to be in Madagascar! REPTILE KEEPER'S MECCA

[starlove0043]

what can u do with a poe bust?" is a ringtone i want for my phone...

[tati13221]

OMG YOU SAY THAT IN 1 OF YOUR NEWER BOOKS THAT COME OUT IN 2012 THATS WHAT ITS SORTA ABOUT P.S FRENCH THE LAMA

[Silencedlemon]

don't worry about oinkbark i had it when i was 17 and all that happened was i was stuck in bed for a week and wanted to die......... but never got bad enough to actually warrant a trip to the hospital

[soccerrulz88]

the faut in our stars the fault in our stars the fault in our stars the fault in our stars the fault in our stars the fault in our stars the fault in our stars the fault in our stars

this is the brain child!!!! we are seeing the birth of an idea!!

[caprafan]

I spy Hazel Grace Lancaster.

[RachelBerryGoldStar]

I had a similar experience with ebola in school, it was traumatizing. We had to read "The Hot Zone" for honors bio, which admittedly was a fairly good book, just not one ninth graders particularly want to read, it gave the entire class of 2014 nightmares

[Plyrx08]

@RachelBerryGoldStar I had to read Demon in the Freezer. Now I'm afraid of smallpox and biological warfare! Yay!

(Various countries are hypothesized to still own samples of live smallpox virus, including North Korea. Just another reason to hate.)

[GoshSamIt]

Ahhhhh! Influenza of 1918!!! No one ever knows about that!

[raraavista]

hmm... that one comment about dying sounded kind of familiar...oh wait, that's because chapter one of TFiOS has NEARLY THAT SAME LINE :D

can't wait for that book, btw

[eretrece]

"What can you do with a Poe bust?" So awesome!

[DWphan]

I got swine flu, at first I was all freaking out, like, "OMG I have Swine flu! I'm gonna DIEEEEeeee!" but then I was too tired to get off the sofa, let alone panic about my demise. so I didnt think about it any more. I was olny sick for about a week and then I told all my freinds that it didnt feel any worse than the normal flu and actually involved less barfing.

[JoyRenee1110]

I will fancy that, thank you, John. I will pretend you are flying somewhere I can actually meet you.

[Gohokekitty]

God, I had swine flu. Not fun but no less fun than normal flu, although I did fall asleep in class. And missed going to London for a science prize...

[4LiveLifeWithLove4]

Would opposing views be something like being absolutely terrified of spiders and hating them but not wanting to kill them? But in this situation it doesn't make me intelliegnt... just stupid and confused.

[maxrbmc]

So life really is all about Sisyphus? Because that is what my professor of "Religion and the Human Quest" would always say... and you agree, basically in this video. Also, I often have opposing views within myself about controversial issues, does that make me intelligent? Awesome. ^_^

[TheZombieGirrrl]

Oh my gosh, Aids, Ebola, and Emerging Virus sounds awesome! I have a mild obsession with the 1918 flu pandemic (it's basically the only reason I finished reading Twilight).

Did you know the collective psyche was so scarred by the event that there is only ONE contemporary work of fiction about the event? Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter. I treasure my copy.

[ReKrisB]

Oinkbarf! XD Oh my. Yeah, when this broke out on our campus, they made t-shirts that said "Swine '09" with a pig on the front and "I'm feeling swine" on the back.

I own one.

Oh, University of Delaware. Keeping it classy, as always. *sarcasm*

[ircuteskitty]

I never got a shot for it and my friend got it and I saw her mabye twice while she had it but i still didn't get it....I feell very sorry for the people who have had it.

[puppyluveromg]

if swines flu, does that mean that pigs now fly? If so my parents owe my a pony.

[animeotaku]

I had swine flu. It sucked, but I got jello. :)

[dimplexxify]

I miss the intro...........

[fivelittlenerds]

When I tell people I have oinkbarf, they run away screaming - Freya.

[xtiredxemox]

i had oinkbarf. and it sucked. but i only had it for like a day.

[lunitaarrabalera]

@xtiredxemox I had it too, it was awful, but at least I didn't die :D

[topcat3768]

What can you do with a Poe bust? Take a picture of it and turn it into a Poe-ster!

(Sorry...couldn't resist)

[aboynamedjude]

Oinkbarf. All I can say is this: Worst illness I've ever had.

[completeidiot19]

I've had oink barf, and I'm alive, yay I'm alive!

[clairebennetrules]

I think I know why you don't blink in videos, are there by chance any stone angels around you? because... you know, you can't blink around them~

[mitdylan]

The Vlogbrothers are the only duo I know that can transition from singing a song about a goat giving birth, to the fragility, and overall temporary state that is life so easily.

[Crud143]

What do you do with a Poe bust? That is what the Buddhists would call a question wrongly put. What you should be asking is, "What do you do with a BA in English?"

[korpsel]

with the bust you could've but a raven on it

[jellybeangravy]

Hypochondriacs FTW *high five*

....but sanitize your hands first ;)

[ThomasTheTank142]

tooooz day

[HPwrocks]

"fancy that."

[skidwilldanceforyou]

Very wise words John. I will never be afraid of nothing to remember us. What eternity means to me can never end. I also find it hard to believe that something that exists could disappear, vanish and go nowhere. If something was to be gone it would have to go somewhere in my opinion.

[aianyoung]

Bacon lung

[greengirllover]

I thought that gray speckled walls were only for hotels?

[Unsatisfied17]

he does blink..but it just so happens that its always at the exact moment WE blink

[moskitomagnet]

Zomg, DOUBLETHINK!

[ivleaftea]

I think that panicking about H1N1 wont do any good (because panicking never does) if you do get sick, take it seriously. Wayne Knight (who had one of the most awesome names in the world so that people would know when they first met him how awesome he was) was a professor at my alma mater Humboldt State University. Last year he died from complications brought on by H1N1 influenza. He was an incredibly dedicated teacher and is missed by everyone who knew him. Remember to take care of yourself.

[pseudocaveman]

Hey, i was in an airport when this was posted! I saw so many people wearing surgical masks.

[eragonlover1]

Hey, we learned about those in Biology when we read The Hot Zone. Ebola scares me.

[4ndiland]

poe bust: put a wig and a diadem on it

[cpate0005]

I once read a fictionalized account of an actual (I think) minor ebola outbreak somewhere (I think...) on the east coast. It was called "The Hot Zone" and thus began my love of Ebola and other infectious diseases. So terribly facinating.

[megahappypinkskitty]

ok oinkbarf is the awesomest word ever

[greengirllover]

@megahappypinkskitty AGREED!

[megahappypinkskitty]

what I always wondered was why we are afraid of death if your thinking because its bad why you don't know your dead

[trapjohnson]

YEah, the over reaction to oinkbarf was four to five months before it was done pandemicing.

[Boogawes]

To do with the bust:

Put it on the mantle in the family room as a conversation piece and mention that Edgar Allan Poe is my adopted fifth cousin. No kidding;my Great 5x Uncle John Allan is/was his foster father, and my mother told me about said family legend. :)

[regularguy5mb]

I shall wash, cover, and balance.

No Oinkbarf for me!

[Director705]

Okay, I've been watching you guys for like, 2 years now, but I'm just realizing you remind me a lot of my 10th grade History teacher Mr. Plessner. He was awesome.

[mangaissofun]

The soanish flu didn't kill more people than the second world war, only the first. DON'T LIE!

[pienkunicorn]

@mangaissofun the first world war killed more than the second. So he's still good.

[lebam333]

I would have the bust wear funny hats.

[CelticLibra]

Honestly, there was an outbreak of H1N1 back in the 70's and the death toll of seasonal flu and other flu viruses deaths was only slightly higher than the year before.

The media has hyped this up way too much and causing much more panic than is necessary. We're all hearing to get the oinkbarf vaccine and hardly hearing anything about the seasonal flu vaccine. So there well be some idiot out there who will only get the H1n!, get the seasonal flu, die and then the family will blame FOX for it!

[98Clank98]

We got a letter home from school saying: 'The amount of people going down with swine flu is not as expected.' If all the students in the school had just dropped down dead the council would have just said "We told you so"

[Neroberry]

Things to do with the bust:

-Make a shrine centered around the bust with Poe-themed items (a raven, a picture of what a lung affected with tuberculosis looks like, etc).

-Put a party hat on him when it's his birthday.

-Do a series of photos of the bust in various places around the world.

-Brag.

[rkdrummer216]

AIDS, Ebola, and emerging viruses!

I want to study those for the rest of my life :-)

[ballers47]

i think you should hide your poe bust and leave some clues as to where it is, so the next dupin can ostensibly find it illogically and logically explain how he found it.

[myfavouritescar]

The irony was that I couldn't go to the event in Sydney because I had H1N1

[kabloozie]

Stick a raven on it.

[drumsarespiffy]

lol why does everyone think Swine flu comes from pigs? And, the regular flu kills an obscenely larger amount of people than Swine. and, my friends who have had it, say it isn't as bad as regular flu, exept you barf 7-10 times a day. Just saying.

[shopstiedoodle]

I don't know, but Swine means pig, so it's called the pig flu lol

[raidonthestadiar]

I find that I struggle with holding and balancing the sense of the futility of effort and the sense of the futility of laziness.

[mimielizabeth]

While watching this video, I realized that John has something between his front two teeth. This made it soo difficult to focus on what he was actually saying...

[cjkool260]

what would you do with a pop tart??

[NaughtyTeacup]

it's a little unnerving how you NEVER BLINK.

at least not on camera.

[williusethis]

@NaughtyTeacup don't blink. whatever you do, don't blink.

[JawsElksAndCyanide]

@NaughtyTeacup he blinked at 2.35 or so... late response but a fact non the less

[MegaTheCoffee]

@NaughtyTeacup Well, at least the angels won't get him.

[Kikomechan]

@MegaTheCoffee You are made of awesome.

[walnutsrcool]

will you please come to seattle

[alliep2013]

put it above your chamber door :]

[sackclothnashes]

the ad on the bottom of this youtube video was about Thew Gabriel Method of losing weight.

coincidence?

[Vultrus]

This sounds a lot like the conclusions made in Albert Camus' The Plague. I suspect that Camus had the same process that you had and thus decided to frame his brilliant novel in a conformist town struck by a strange disease that makes them consider their own mortality and the futility of life.

But life you Camus believed in the necessity of struggle as that was his ultimate philosophical goal.

But thats just a connection I made.

[BeautyVintageRoses]

oinkbarf lmao

[thevampireking21]

Swine flu is not a big deal. I actually am staying home from school because I have it... no kidding, I have a doctors note that says I have it and everything. It's actually just as deadly as the regular flu, just that its comes from pigs. So I share a disease with pigs, pretty cool actually when you think about it.

[MrBuckeye215]

Paper Towns was fucking amazing

[KaylaPaxton]

I preferred Looking for Alaska.

[zinnycat1597]

Hmm...what CAN you do with a Poe Bust?

Take him to a pub...he may enjoy that....

[dangerous64545]

a bust of edger a poe eh? if its linolium u can hit someone w/ it

[b6gm6n]

VLOG, Earth-Date 090531:1922, Note to self : abandon the human race!, were all bunch of fucking idiots, me.out

[iheartpeterpan13]

thats sounds like doublethink from 1984

[ratherrandombella]

i read that, very interesting. but doublethink was a little different

[gingerchicken]

my school is closed down because kids have swine. and i think i have it...seriously

[IneedAlife209]

don't worry, like he said only about 1% of people die from it. Also it is said that it has only killed people with immune system problems. Hope this helps.

[HeresToHopingForHell]

ah the futility of effort! if only i had someone to talk to about these concepts and ideas, Unfortunatly for me, the people around me are in the generalist sort of "We deal with this by ignoring it" category. That being applied in a much wider sense to almost all topics that might make one less secure in thier own self.

[IneedAlife209]

no spam on Green video!

[gk6147]

Hell yeah!! No spam crap!! That's not right!

Electrickrock18, be ASHAMED.

[LDSweetheart]

Poe Bust? Put it next to a bust of his cousin. That should keep him happy for a while.

[flyingpotatoofdoom]

Put it on your head!!

[mellysoup]

Please read The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death. by Gene Weingarten....hilariousness and nerdiness making fun of hypochondria in a loving way.

[baritone104]

It's called hamthrax now.

[dew102x]

my grandfather died of swine flu... so thats fun

[343GuiltySparkinst04]

you mexican?

or non-american?

[monkeyaround92]

:( im sorry

[truemontanagirl]

Come back to Montana!

I live in Plains. So...come back!

[nolanrobe]

Oh my God. You just yelled 'panic' in an airport.

[AdamsKid93]

lol! You just made my day! For some reason I found that comment extremely funny

[Reflucks]

Wow I did too. :D I don't know how.. but it did lol.

[Jedichickens703]

Poe bust---put it with the rest of your pink lawn ornaments

REALLY GOOD BOOK about a pandemic that destroys the human race---The Brief History of the Dead. It's awesome. Read it.

[Jedichickens703]

put it with the rest of your pink flamingo lawn ornaments

[zinnycat1597]

Don't do it John! Your flamingos, knomes and other garden residents will either become extremely depressed or too troubled to sleep!

[aymberleaf]

How about come to England?

[PinkDumbledore]

you rock :]

[TheFogIsRising]

Happy dance witha Poe bust.

[sianxofxthexdead]

No, I thought it killed more people in WW1? It's was in 1918 & this programme I saw said it was the first world war =/

[DaydreamDelivery]

I happen to work in a pharmacy in Canada and it is absolutely insane how many people come in to buy masks or hand sanitizer. We can't even sell any more because the supplier is sold out as well.

[Noonstance]

Futility of effort relative to what context?

[trippywalnut]

you could get a little bowler hat for your Poe bust, and display it on a mantle or bookshelf. (and feature it in a video)

[abdul398614]

who is hank

[MonisticWonder]

his brother. This started from a project called Brotherhood 2.0 in which he and Hank forsook all forms of communication except video-messages.

[huckfinn1245]

Save that puppy. Or place it right by the door about head level so people stare at Edgar as they step in the door.

[luvak8]

hanks birthday is the day after mine.

[javawithcream]

Poe bust? break it and see how many pieces it BUSTS into.

[gjonesy9]

April 27, 2009

40 confirmed cases.

watch?v=fA29EHUcnHg

watch?v=UMj3Eg2qVVY

Centers for Disease Contol and Prevention:

Site last updated May 9, 2009 (Day 12.)

Laboratory confirmed cases in the US:

Two thousand two hundred fifty four (2,254) are infected with the H1N1 virus.

2,254 divided into 40 = 56.35 x 100 = 5635% in just 12 days time. :o)

[Vabulous1]

get a faux raven and hot glue it to his shirt and ad an eyepatch for good piratey measure. Or you can surround it in bells bells bells bells bells bells bells! While they chime chime chime in a sort of runic rhyme. Darn, now I'm going to be reciting poe all day. Annabel Lee, your next!

[Rob6203]

What can't you do with a Poe bust?

[MykleRosen]

smash eeet!!!!!!

[shortsisters756]

wait till you see his vid tomorrow :-)

[CanadianSliwka]

I think pandemics scare people becuase they think that they will be next... so it is all about the individual after all

[Gracelainebabybear]

What to do with a Poe bust?

Put it under the floor boards.. see if it has a heart.

[arienettechemistry]

What can you do with a Poe bust?

Hold it in front of your face and recite his poetry while you pretend he is saying it.

What can you do with a Poe bust?

Hold it next to you while trying to look just like him.

[result190]

did you know, that right now, you have a higher chance of getting hit by three cars in two seconds than dying of oinkbark?

[LoveLittleMissMunich]

That part about "first-rate intelligence" reminded me of doublethink, which is kind of scary...

[buggoober]

the futility of effort and necessity of struggle....wow....i just had a zen moment

[BobThePeanutFairyMan]

ok, so first, you have to keep the bust with you at all times. then, when you see something odd or cool you just hold the bust next to it, and take a picture of the bust with it. then, when youre making a video, but youre kind of bored... you just randomly pop a picture of the bust in an odd or cool place right in the middle of the video, it'll be fun, hilarious and an ongoing inside nerdfighter joke. well, DFTBA John, and Happy Birthday Hank!!

[horsewhisperer990]

Oinkbarf! Ahhaha. DFTBA, John. :)

[ToStartAgain]

I think you should scare little children.... tehehehehehehe.

[fournya]

seriously, what can't you do with a Poe-bust?

[horsewhisperer990]

Ahhaha, I agree!

[BuriedErect]

All you have to do with a Poe-bust is give him a large drink, a pen, and paper. He'll live comfortably in your office for the rest of his days.

[sistersalad]

Well, obviously you can put the Poe-bust on your head...

I'm just wondering why nobody's talking about the memetic pandemic that is the media response to Oinkbarf. I mean, just look at how quickly that meme spread through the world population, how many people were infected by it. I'm telling you, things like mere viruses have been outstripped--it's the memes we gotta watch out for!

[Athena007]

Oink Barf... ah-ahahahahaha! I hadn't actually heard that one before. Silly.

[JazzDragon022]

I would take a bust of Edgar Allen Poe on trips with me. Take photos of us travelling together...like the Travelocity gnome, except its Allen, yo!

Also, oinkbarf over-reaction comes from people not being educated enough. They've had to start calling it H1N1 because people stopped eating pork products thinking that is where it came from.

I wish I could take Allen with me to all sorts of places! Maybe I would even give him a facebook, or blog... ^_^

[PickleMcPicklehiemer]

I love that the ad here is for hand sanitiser ^_^

[mawaFUKA6005]

why dont you get hank an ebola virus?

[Nic33rd]

Awesome words. Keep on keeping on!

[littledipp]

whatcanudowithapoebust?

you could... put it on your head oh yes you could!