Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys | Blank on Blank

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ย. 2015
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    "Nothing means anything" - Kurt Vonnegut on November 8, 1970
    From the Pacifica Radio Archives
    Hear the full, unedited interview plus see Vonnegut's art work, learn secrets of Slaughterhouse-Five, and more nuggets of Vonnegut here: blankonblank.org/kurt-vonnegut
    In November 1970, Kurt Vonnegut walked into a class room at NYU. He was a guest speaker that day. He’d prepared some handwritten notes on what he wanted to say: there were his thoughts on the art of writing, his childhood, the death of his parents. He jumped from topic to topic as he shuffled through his papers. Sometimes his voice trailed off. He delivered punchlines with perfect timing. The class roared. Listening to this tape, we get to be flies on the wall that day. So take a seat, but your book bag down and enjoy. Here’s Kurt Vonnegut
    Executive Producer: David Gerlach
    Animator: Patrick Smith
    Audio Producer: Amy Drozdowska
    Colorist: Jennifer Yoo
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    Music You Heard via APM
    "Aphorismen Fur Klavier Op.3 (1961)"
    "24 Piano Preludes 12"
    Krzysztof Aleksander Meyer
    "Paris Blues Waltz"
    Frederic Robert Chauvigne
    "Punti Di Vista No.1 For Piano Solo"
    James Dashow
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ความคิดเห็น • 132

  • @formusicplaylist1
    @formusicplaylist1 8 ปีที่แล้ว +219

    "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt"

  • @billbo606
    @billbo606 7 ปีที่แล้ว +280

    "I think parents are often much happier then parents realize"...deep

    • @Dr-Door
      @Dr-Door 5 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      You are forgetting that he just said "the great Space Fuck"

    • @quitepipe
      @quitepipe 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@Dr-Door deep space

  • @messenjah71
    @messenjah71 3 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    Vonnegut was stuck in that place where the world loses it’s promise of meaning and that’s what he wrote about - the absurdity of the meaning we’ve applied to the meaningless. He could have gone beyond this phase, of course, but he was too interested in writing. And thank God for that.

  • @taejun9017
    @taejun9017 5 ปีที่แล้ว +111

    this is really fantastic. i read vonnegut constantly in highschool and early in college, then put it down for many years. I just read Hocus Pocus, im 32 now, and his genius has surprised me more than ever before. He has a wisdom, a mindfulness, that he tried to instill onto people through his writing and talks, how life doesn't really mean anything, except to you, so appreciate it when its good, because sometimes or oftentimes it will be bad, and then its over. So it goes.

    • @bluesriot2
      @bluesriot2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      frim your lips to god's ears !

  • @johnduncan4387
    @johnduncan4387 6 ปีที่แล้ว +54

    The piano music is fitting to his writing style

  • @Frostuin
    @Frostuin 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    **Nervous music**
    "I have written a story called 'The Big Space-fuck'"
    **Audience bursts out laughing**

  • @hipocampelofantocame
    @hipocampelofantocame 8 ปีที่แล้ว +219

    This was way too short--too short, but marvelous.

    • @BlankonblankOrg
      @BlankonblankOrg  8 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      We've got more Vonnegut in our podcast and on our website: blankonblank.org

    • @eljube0
      @eljube0 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I think these are the perfect length to draw you in and leave you going for more. Any chance the series will restart here?

  • @thomasbell7033
    @thomasbell7033 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I never realized how much I missed him until now. So many of us from that generation decided we were too sophisticated for Vonnegut, after adoring him until college. We were wrong. He was always the wiser one.

  • @1997theanimator
    @1997theanimator 5 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    "What everybody is well advised to do is to not write about your own life, this is if you want to write fast. You will be writing about your own life anyway, but you won't know it."
    The more that I write, whether it be for personal or academic reasons, the more I'm beginning to see that this is true.

  • @PogieJoe
    @PogieJoe 8 ปีที่แล้ว +80

    He really was a true genius.

  • @goldkirby
    @goldkirby 8 ปีที่แล้ว +210

    I'm surprised that these weren't getting sponsored earlier, the quality is extremely high :) always look forward to watching these.

    • @mustymax5878
      @mustymax5878 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They get funding from pbs

    • @mustymax5878
      @mustymax5878 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Got I guess

  • @evanpeltier
    @evanpeltier 5 ปีที่แล้ว +114

    Been reading Cat's Cradle. One of the greatest books I've ever read.

    • @tysparks598
      @tysparks598 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Was just talking Cat's Cradle with an author friend of mine, it's both our favorites of Vonnegut. The general with the "mud problem" is based on this general that Richard Dawkins mentions in a TED talk,general Stubblebine, who, after learning that atoms were mostly empty, thought for sure that with enough will power he could walk through a wall... He tried walking through the door of his office on a regular basis, but only ever got a busted nose 👃😂
      Sounds like Vonnegut's general, at least

    • @evanpeltier
      @evanpeltier 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @creme good No I haven't, but I will certainly check it out! Thanks.

    • @evanpeltier
      @evanpeltier 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @creme good Slaughter house 5 was a great read.

  • @StudiosVineyard
    @StudiosVineyard 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Vonnegut's fixation with death is very interesting. Not the first or last time I've heard him compare his current age to the age other people died

  • @khalidalali351
    @khalidalali351 8 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Dear Patrick Smith,
    Your animation is amazing ! thank you

  • @robertborland5083
    @robertborland5083 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    4:00 That is one of my favorite short stories. I think that it is because the setting would basically be America at the time through a pessimistic lens where many ideas that are seemingly random emerge, like giant lamprey eels from Lake Erie, only to connect to one another by the end.

  • @Puppy_Puppington
    @Puppy_Puppington 7 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    since I've discovered these I've been addicted to them all. thank you so much everyone who contributes and the great minds that inspire and give hope. its all we have. never let that die. the child in you.

    • @Puppy_Puppington
      @Puppy_Puppington 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      in a time where Im surrounded by evil and death and just hopelessness. this is all I could ask for. really thank you

  • @papitodo
    @papitodo 8 ปีที่แล้ว +51

    You guys are amazing. Would love to see an interview of Charles Bukowski. That man was a walking tragedy. A very interesting one tho.

  • @jayfarr5532
    @jayfarr5532 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I don’t understand why I keep seeing comments saying that these are way too short, I don’t think people understand how long it probably takes too make just short animations like these

  • @11realise
    @11realise 8 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    awesome animation and amazing opportunity to hear Vonnegut, thank you!

  • @memobenitez2508
    @memobenitez2508 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Dude hell yes finally! I really didn't expect y'all to do it. thank you

  • @BrushesOfMagic
    @BrushesOfMagic 8 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Fantastic author! Excellent video. I always look forward to these!!!

  • @christopherashton8692
    @christopherashton8692 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Please keep up with these for a long time to come, love em'!

  • @mishtaromaniello8295
    @mishtaromaniello8295 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I wish I was as funny as Vonnegut was... great, great video.

  • @mattnorman4292
    @mattnorman4292 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    To The Man who can take the madness and make it gently sit down and vibrate it's harmony in the still beauty of color and pathos.

  • @stuvs830
    @stuvs830 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Oh, my gosh. -thank you for this glimpse into his life.

  • @shlomohsamuel19
    @shlomohsamuel19 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    You don't find Kurt Vonnegut, his stories find you.

  • @ernestberry5226
    @ernestberry5226 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great idea , The animation reminds me of that of a dear old friend of mine graphic work,Rob Davis. Thank you guys for this love it.

  • @TheSMLIFfilms
    @TheSMLIFfilms 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I love that he was about to say "I wrote this story called the big space fuck... It's about this big space fuck"

  • @ashershort7741
    @ashershort7741 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Wow this is beautiful..My grandmother who I've lived with my whole life has the same disorder as his mother (along with paranoid schizophrenia) the illness is a form of dementia called "sun downers syndrome"

  • @expeditionfilms1
    @expeditionfilms1 8 ปีที่แล้ว +145

    It'd be really awesome if you guys could do Nick Drake, although that could be difficult

    • @PogieJoe
      @PogieJoe 8 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      +Expedition Films I would love to see that!

    • @notnavonnam
      @notnavonnam 8 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      +Expedition Films Don't think he ever did a recorded interview

    • @providief
      @providief 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      i think there's only a recording of how badly a gig went haha

    • @bluesriot2
      @bluesriot2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@providief and so it goes ...

  • @Engineer_Who
    @Engineer_Who 8 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Now I really want to read The Big Space Fuck.

    • @youknowinhindsight
      @youknowinhindsight 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/07/wf041307.htm

  • @recoverybeer8165
    @recoverybeer8165 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you.

  • @timswartz4520
    @timswartz4520 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank You, very nice and very deep.

  • @johnlemus7921
    @johnlemus7921 8 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fascinating!

  • @AthanasiosTheGreek
    @AthanasiosTheGreek 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    great channel. great work.

  • @karenkelleher477
    @karenkelleher477 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    thank you

  • @bolockwood6975
    @bolockwood6975 8 ปีที่แล้ว

    Lovely animation!

  • @dominickstewart433
    @dominickstewart433 6 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    Writing is paranoid. Why else would I write an essay on one detail a writer puts in because it changes everything.

  • @breadmoneyarchival
    @breadmoneyarchival 8 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Has a Blank on Blank of Bill Evans been made yet? I'd love to see it. Maybe one of Django Reinhardt if it's around.

  • @damok9999
    @damok9999 6 ปีที่แล้ว +52

    nothing means anything, artists pretend it does
    good stuff

  • @youdontknowme3935
    @youdontknowme3935 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    this was very nice

  • @eyeballsushi
    @eyeballsushi 8 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Excellent! 2:22!!

  • @TheNinjaRo
    @TheNinjaRo 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Vonnegut FTW!

  • @shaunmcewin7545
    @shaunmcewin7545 8 ปีที่แล้ว +102

    If love to see a Freddie Mercury one

    • @salarmarri4801
      @salarmarri4801 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yes...

    • @BlankonblankOrg
      @BlankonblankOrg  8 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      We've added it to the list.

    • @RobertSlover
      @RobertSlover 8 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      +Blank on Blank it must be quite a ever growing list eh?

    • @North_Sea
      @North_Sea 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      +Blank on Blank I'd love to see one with Shane Macgowan

  • @chrisgagnon9438
    @chrisgagnon9438 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    so it goes

  • @AdamTaylor_ajgraytay
    @AdamTaylor_ajgraytay 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That was pretty sweet.

  • @Len124
    @Len124 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    2:29 My name is Yon Yonson...

  • @lousalvador1632
    @lousalvador1632 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Do any of his books touch on what he was talking about here? I want to go deeper in the philosophy he was touching on

  • @TypicalUnderscore
    @TypicalUnderscore 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    cool

  • @FilipeBrasAlmeida
    @FilipeBrasAlmeida 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    4:00 What a riot. :-)

  • @zwiguy9494
    @zwiguy9494 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    inverted bethooven music?

  • @scolkereybel
    @scolkereybel ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is...
    Fucking wow
    To just start talking about his parents being dead
    God, I don't know what to make of this man. I think he's just deeply sad about it.

  • @obbeachbum69
    @obbeachbum69 8 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    I've noticed something about young audiences circa 1950's-1960's, they laugh inappropriately. I've first noticed it in a lecture by Richard Feynman where the audience would burst out laughing even though he said nothing even remotely funny.

    • @MrUndersolo
      @MrUndersolo 7 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      They are laughing in self-defense. A lot of nervous tension gets out...

    • @chuck1prillaman
      @chuck1prillaman 7 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Maybe they got the joke. orrrrr, maybe they are afraid people will think they're not very smart and feign "knowing" laughter, orrrrr, maybe our culture was different from today's which engendered a different sense of humor, orrrrr, ....

    • @thecomedian6322
      @thecomedian6322 7 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      Never knew there was an inappropriate time to laugh. Also Vonnegut's story is outlandishly creative so I would be right alongside them. Also, today on most shows, there are laugh cards that cue audiences on when to laugh-which I think is more inappropriate than this audience laughing of its own accord. Just my opinion. Not worth shit, I know. Lol

    • @Rebazar
      @Rebazar 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      It's a standard defense mechanism to diffuse tension. I remember people "laughing" at Bill Murray talking about deep depression and contemplating suicide in the 2000s, for example...

    • @taejun9017
      @taejun9017 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      i think its just common when you're around someone thats of celebrity status, laughing is because people long to communicate with them, its just like a primitive attempt at such

  • @doncallangher6177
    @doncallangher6177 ปีที่แล้ว

    Where is this classroom of NYU alumni in 1970 who were gifted by the presence of Kurt Vonnegut? Some made eye contact, maybe a few chatted with him afterwards. Where are these people? I realize they are in their late 60s maybe 70s but I’d love to hear their thoughts.

  • @napoleoninrags1346
    @napoleoninrags1346 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    I know you only have whatcha got (sic.),but I would love any Pete Townshend interview.

  • @glaxglax4741
    @glaxglax4741 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    What’s the piano song!

  • @aphexmandelbrot
    @aphexmandelbrot 25 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Do have a link to the original audio for this?

  • @ZuluLifesaBeech-
    @ZuluLifesaBeech- 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    General Chuck Yeager would be a sood interview to atimate. "I've been shot at, shot up and, shot down."

  • @ferdelance2299
    @ferdelance2299 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    2:50 - 3:10 is THE HOLY TRUTH!!!

  • @conansmith5164
    @conansmith5164 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    fucking genius

  • @alecdavidoff8602
    @alecdavidoff8602 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Please, make a video about Philip K Dick

  • @lilawakeman1577
    @lilawakeman1577 8 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    I love Kurt Vonnegut, and these animations are really cool. I'd love to see more female voices represented, across the board! How about Simone de Beauvoir, Elizabeth Taylor, Audre Lorde, Hedy Lamar, Jane Goodall, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, or Octavia Butler, just to name a few?

    • @stuvs830
      @stuvs830 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Do any interviews exist of Marie Tharp, the woman who mapped the ocean floor? I'd love to see Patrick illustrate her story.

    • @stuvs830
      @stuvs830 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Professor Barbara Oakely, still living and one righteous and cool individual. Out exploring on Russian ships and co-author of one of the most popular courses on learning maths. Paint us her picture, Patrick!

    • @stuvs830
      @stuvs830 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      How about Paramount's first woman head, Dawn Steel? Her book she wrote showed her mettle and her climb to the top began when she was sued for copyright infringement, printing up LV- lookalike logos on toilet paper rolls. Now that's a visual.

    • @lila4609
      @lila4609 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      wow another lila who likes KV

    • @lilawakeman1577
      @lilawakeman1577 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      We bosses ;)

  • @GiantDoucheNG
    @GiantDoucheNG 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Bukowski, please

  • @timwright4263
    @timwright4263 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    'Making the mad up,' he says. I'm not mad. Hey. You can trust me on this.

    • @megazoned3973
      @megazoned3973 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      “Making them ADD UP.”.. but you’re way sounds cooler.

  • @OriginalLonelygstar
    @OriginalLonelygstar 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    He got a B!

  • @iasimov5960
    @iasimov5960 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Do Isaac Asimov

  • @jim1748
    @jim1748 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Do William Gibson

  • @larrybradford4326
    @larrybradford4326 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Ace Frehley

  • @iansullivan9738
    @iansullivan9738 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    The music is too loud for the track, it overpowers the speaker.

  • @MrLevonhardt
    @MrLevonhardt 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    What is the musical piece going on throughout the video?

    • @GoldenScarab45
      @GoldenScarab45 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I think it's one of Ligeti's piano etudes!

  • @jimjamkillsnerds
    @jimjamkillsnerds 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    4:20 interstellar?

  • @LosBerkos
    @LosBerkos 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Good thing there's a cartoon shielding me from listening too closely.

  • @Patricop2
    @Patricop2 8 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    It was really great, but the music is not only annoying, but also has nothing to do with the stories at all. It paints no background.

    • @pf961
      @pf961 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      MadCalvin be HappyCalvin
      (I agree the musics annoying)

  • @somethingyousaid5059
    @somethingyousaid5059 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    👍 .tugennoV daeR

  • @caillanmclean8571
    @caillanmclean8571 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is confusing as neither Orwell or Kerouac (or D.H Lawrence) killed themselves...

  • @salarmarri4801
    @salarmarri4801 8 ปีที่แล้ว

    freddie mercury please

  • @Ultracity6060
    @Ultracity6060 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    I can't get through the music on this one :/

  • @bobbycutts2111
    @bobbycutts2111 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    5 years too late, but whoever did the EQ on this video between Kurt and the trilling piano needs to be fired

  • @reececrump8483
    @reececrump8483 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Being an animator is hard, but idk if the portrayal of kurt's mom was not very progressive

  • @ahcokris
    @ahcokris 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    he comes across even creepier than in his books. I read him. he is creepy. him talking about "nutty" and of "paranoia" makes me think he was either stoned or really bent

  • @orenjistrash6747
    @orenjistrash6747 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    "a war head full of sperm" XD

  • @SFDestiny
    @SFDestiny 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    your commercial is jarring, too loud

  • @orsonhurst1248
    @orsonhurst1248 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    FYI. It's booksack. Not book bag or backpack. You can blame Dora for the backpack phenomenon.

  • @scottdowney4103
    @scottdowney4103 8 ปีที่แล้ว

    PBS really lost me with that Dropbox ad crammed in at the end.
    Kind of crass, sad shoehorning in to make a penny.

  • @musafirioliver
    @musafirioliver 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    What a racist! blaming his naughtiness on his Black maid. . .

  • @sethisley2041
    @sethisley2041 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    the thing with vonnegut is that he gets too philosophical sometimes ya know?

  • @jackboyd5162
    @jackboyd5162 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    I thought Kurt Vonnegut sucked as a writer he was boring and really every book I ever read by him I only read thinking that it would get better I remember reading Slaughterhouse-Five because my silly brother said well at least you will have read Vonnegut. I just don't understand why anyone would consider him any good.

  • @elaovi
    @elaovi 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    I read some of Kurt Vonnegut in 8th grade. Tbh he’s kinda boring

    • @iasimov5960
      @iasimov5960 5 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Is Vonnegut boring? Or are you boring?

  • @jamesaritchie1
    @jamesaritchie1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Typical literary writer. He knows nothing, but says a lot of nonsense in pretending he knows everything.

  • @finished6267
    @finished6267 ปีที่แล้ว

    So sad about his mother.