Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys | Blank on Blank

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  • čas přidán 9. 11. 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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    "Aphorismen Fur Klavier Op.3 (1961)"
    "24 Piano Preludes 12"
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    "Paris Blues Waltz"
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Komentáře • 132

  • @formusicplaylist1
    @formusicplaylist1 Před 8 lety +219

    "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt"

  • @taejun9017
    @taejun9017 Před 5 lety +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 Před 2 lety +1

      frim your lips to god's ears !

  • @messenjah71
    @messenjah71 Před 3 lety +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.

  • @billbo606
    @billbo606 Před 7 lety +280

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

    • @Dr-Door
      @Dr-Door Před 5 lety +18

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

    • @quitepipe
      @quitepipe Před 3 lety +3

      @@Dr-Door deep space

  • @johnduncan4387
    @johnduncan4387 Před 5 lety +54

    The piano music is fitting to his writing style

  • @thomasbell7033
    @thomasbell7033 Před rokem +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.

  • @hipocampelofantocame
    @hipocampelofantocame Před 8 lety +219

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

    • @BlankonblankOrg
      @BlankonblankOrg  Před 8 lety +26

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

    • @eljube0
      @eljube0 Před 3 lety +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?

  • @goldkirby
    @goldkirby Před 8 lety +210

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

  • @PogieJoe
    @PogieJoe Před 8 lety +80

    He really was a true genius.

  • @1997theanimator
    @1997theanimator Před 5 lety +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.

  • @Frostuin
    @Frostuin Před 5 lety +15

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

  • @evanpeltier
    @evanpeltier Před 5 lety +114

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

    • @tysparks598
      @tysparks598 Před 3 lety +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 Před 3 lety +2

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

    • @evanpeltier
      @evanpeltier Před 3 lety +3

      @creme good Slaughter house 5 was a great read.

  • @StudiosVineyard
    @StudiosVineyard Před 3 lety +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 Před 8 lety +10

    Dear Patrick Smith,
    Your animation is amazing ! thank you

  • @Puppy_Puppington
    @Puppy_Puppington Před 7 lety +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 Před 7 lety +1

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

  • @robertborland5083
    @robertborland5083 Před 5 lety +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.

  • @papitodo
    @papitodo Před 8 lety +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.

  • @mishtaromaniello8295
    @mishtaromaniello8295 Před 5 lety +8

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

  • @11realise
    @11realise Před 8 lety +10

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

  • @jayfarr5532
    @jayfarr5532 Před 6 lety +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

  • @stuvs830
    @stuvs830 Před 8 lety +2

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

  • @memobenitez2508
    @memobenitez2508 Před 8 lety +3

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

  • @shlomohsamuel19
    @shlomohsamuel19 Před 4 lety +4

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

  • @BrushesOfMagic
    @BrushesOfMagic Před 8 lety +6

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

  • @mattnorman4292
    @mattnorman4292 Před 5 lety +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.

  • @christopherashton8692
    @christopherashton8692 Před 8 lety +1

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

  • @TheSMLIFfilms
    @TheSMLIFfilms Před 8 lety +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"

  • @expeditionfilms1
    @expeditionfilms1 Před 8 lety +145

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

    • @PogieJoe
      @PogieJoe Před 8 lety +6

      +Expedition Films I would love to see that!

    • @notnavonnam
      @notnavonnam Před 8 lety +21

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

    • @providief
      @providief Před 7 lety +7

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

    • @bluesriot2
      @bluesriot2 Před 2 lety +1

      @@providief and so it goes ...

  • @ashershort7741
    @ashershort7741 Před 7 lety +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"

  • @Engineer_Who
    @Engineer_Who Před 8 lety +21

    Now I really want to read The Big Space Fuck.

  • @breadmoneyarchival
    @breadmoneyarchival Před 8 lety +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.

  • @johnlemus7921
    @johnlemus7921 Před 8 lety

    Fascinating!

  • @recoverybeer8165
    @recoverybeer8165 Před 5 lety +1

    Thank you.

  • @AthanasiosTheGreek
    @AthanasiosTheGreek Před 8 lety +1

    great channel. great work.

  • @timswartz4520
    @timswartz4520 Před 6 lety

    Thank You, very nice and very deep.

  • @dominickstewart433
    @dominickstewart433 Před 6 lety +44

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

  • @ernestberry5226
    @ernestberry5226 Před 6 lety +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.

  • @karenkelleher477
    @karenkelleher477 Před 7 lety

    thank you

  • @bolockwood6975
    @bolockwood6975 Před 8 lety

    Lovely animation!

  • @TheNinjaRo
    @TheNinjaRo Před 8 lety +3

    Vonnegut FTW!

  • @eyeballsushi
    @eyeballsushi Před 8 lety +4

    Excellent! 2:22!!

  • @youdontknowme3935
    @youdontknowme3935 Před 7 lety

    this was very nice

  • @chrisgagnon9438
    @chrisgagnon9438 Před 8 lety +3

    so it goes

  • @shaunmcewin7545
    @shaunmcewin7545 Před 8 lety +102

    If love to see a Freddie Mercury one

  • @AdamTaylor_ajgraytay
    @AdamTaylor_ajgraytay Před 8 lety +1

    That was pretty sweet.

  • @damok9999
    @damok9999 Před 6 lety +52

    nothing means anything, artists pretend it does
    good stuff

  • @Len124
    @Len124 Před 5 lety +14

    2:29 My name is Yon Yonson...

  • @lousalvador1632
    @lousalvador1632 Před 5 lety +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

  • @FilipeBrasAlmeida
    @FilipeBrasAlmeida Před 7 lety

    4:00 What a riot. :-)

  • @doncallangher6177
    @doncallangher6177 Před rokem

    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.

  • @TypicalUnderscore
    @TypicalUnderscore Před 7 lety

    cool

  • @aphexmandelbrot
    @aphexmandelbrot Před 17 dny

    Do have a link to the original audio for this?

  • @ZuluLifesaBeech-
    @ZuluLifesaBeech- Před 3 lety

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

  • @conansmith5164
    @conansmith5164 Před 5 lety

    fucking genius

  • @napoleoninrags1346
    @napoleoninrags1346 Před 6 lety

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

  • @scolkereybel
    @scolkereybel Před rokem +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.

  • @ferdelance2299
    @ferdelance2299 Před 6 lety

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

  • @zwiguy9494
    @zwiguy9494 Před 7 lety

    inverted bethooven music?

  • @glaxglax4741
    @glaxglax4741 Před 5 lety

    What’s the piano song!

  • @alecdavidoff8602
    @alecdavidoff8602 Před 6 lety +2

    Please, make a video about Philip K Dick

  • @OriginalLonelygstar
    @OriginalLonelygstar Před 5 lety +1

    He got a B!

  • @obbeachbum69
    @obbeachbum69 Před 8 lety +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 Před 7 lety +25

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

    • @chuck1prillaman
      @chuck1prillaman Před 7 lety +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 Před 7 lety +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 Před 6 lety +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 Před 5 lety +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

  • @larrybradford4326
    @larrybradford4326 Před 8 lety +2

    Ace Frehley

  • @timwright4263
    @timwright4263 Před 4 lety

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

    • @megazoned3973
      @megazoned3973 Před 3 lety

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

  • @iansullivan9738
    @iansullivan9738 Před 2 lety

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

  • @GiantDoucheNG
    @GiantDoucheNG Před 8 lety +1

    Bukowski, please

  • @iasimov5960
    @iasimov5960 Před 5 lety +2

    Do Isaac Asimov

  • @lilawakeman1577
    @lilawakeman1577 Před 8 lety +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 Před 8 lety +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 Před 8 lety +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 Před 8 lety +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 Před 8 lety +1

      wow another lila who likes KV

    • @lilawakeman1577
      @lilawakeman1577 Před 8 lety

      We bosses ;)

  • @jim1748
    @jim1748 Před 7 lety

    Do William Gibson

  • @MrLevonhardt
    @MrLevonhardt Před 7 lety

    What is the musical piece going on throughout the video?

  • @jimjamkillsnerds
    @jimjamkillsnerds Před 8 lety +1

    4:20 interstellar?

  • @LosBerkos
    @LosBerkos Před 4 lety

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

  • @somethingyousaid5059
    @somethingyousaid5059 Před 5 lety +1

    👍 .tugennoV daeR

  • @salarmarri4801
    @salarmarri4801 Před 8 lety

    freddie mercury please

  • @bobbycutts2111
    @bobbycutts2111 Před 3 lety

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

  • @Ultracity6060
    @Ultracity6060 Před 6 lety

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

  • @SFDestiny
    @SFDestiny Před 3 lety

    your commercial is jarring, too loud

  • @caillanmclean8571
    @caillanmclean8571 Před 4 lety

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

  • @Patricop2
    @Patricop2 Před 8 lety +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 Před 5 lety

      MadCalvin be HappyCalvin
      (I agree the musics annoying)

  • @reececrump8483
    @reececrump8483 Před 7 lety

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

  • @ahcokris
    @ahcokris Před 3 lety

    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 Před 5 lety

    "a war head full of sperm" XD

  • @orsonhurst1248
    @orsonhurst1248 Před 7 lety

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

  • @musafirioliver
    @musafirioliver Před 4 lety

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

  • @scottdowney4103
    @scottdowney4103 Před 8 lety

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

  • @sethisley2041
    @sethisley2041 Před 5 lety

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

  • @jamesaritchie1
    @jamesaritchie1 Před 3 lety +1

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

  • @jackboyd5162
    @jackboyd5162 Před 5 lety

    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 Před 5 lety

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

    • @iasimov5960
      @iasimov5960 Před 5 lety +10

      Is Vonnegut boring? Or are you boring?

  • @finished6267
    @finished6267 Před rokem

    So sad about his mother.