Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys

Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys | Blank on Blank

Рет қаралды 359,332

8 жыл бұрын

This episode is brought to you by Dropbox www.dropbox.com
"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"
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"Punti Di Vista No.1 For Piano Solo"
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Пікірлер: 132

@formusicplaylist1 8 жыл бұрын

"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt"

@taejun9017 5 жыл бұрын

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 2 жыл бұрын

frim your lips to god's ears !

@messenjah71 4 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@Dr-Door 5 жыл бұрын

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

@quitepipe 3 жыл бұрын

@@Dr-Door deep space

@johnduncan4387 6 жыл бұрын

The piano music is fitting to his writing style

@thomasbell7033 Жыл бұрын

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.

@goldkirby 8 жыл бұрын

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

@mustymax5878 4 жыл бұрын

They get funding from pbs

@mustymax5878 4 жыл бұрын

Got I guess

@1997theanimator 5 жыл бұрын

"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 8 жыл бұрын

He really was a true genius.

@hipocampelofantocame 8 жыл бұрын

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

@BlankonblankOrg 8 жыл бұрын

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

@eljube0 3 жыл бұрын

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

@Frostuin 5 жыл бұрын

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

@evanpeltier 5 жыл бұрын

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

@tysparks598 3 жыл бұрын

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 3 жыл бұрын

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

@evanpeltier 3 жыл бұрын

@creme good Slaughter house 5 was a great read.

@StudiosVineyard 4 жыл бұрын

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

@Puppy_Puppington 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@khalidalali351 8 жыл бұрын

Dear Patrick Smith, Your animation is amazing ! thank you

@robertborland5083 5 жыл бұрын

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.

@11realise 8 жыл бұрын

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

@memobenitez2508 8 жыл бұрын

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

@christopherashton8692 8 жыл бұрын

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

@BrushesOfMagic 8 жыл бұрын

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

@mattnorman4292 5 жыл бұрын

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.

@jayfarr5532 6 жыл бұрын

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 8 жыл бұрын

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

@mishtaromaniello8295 5 жыл бұрын

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

@papitodo 8 жыл бұрын

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

@ashershort7741 7 жыл бұрын

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"

@shlomohsamuel19 4 жыл бұрын

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

@expeditionfilms1 8 жыл бұрын

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

@PogieJoe 8 жыл бұрын

+Expedition Films I would love to see that!

@notnavonnam 8 жыл бұрын

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

@providief 7 жыл бұрын

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

@bluesriot2 2 жыл бұрын

@@providief and so it goes ...

@ernestberry5226 7 жыл бұрын

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.

@AthanasiosTheGreek 8 жыл бұрын

great channel. great work.

@recoverybeer8165 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@timswartz4520 7 жыл бұрын

Thank You, very nice and very deep.

@breadmoneyarchival 8 жыл бұрын

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.

@TheSMLIFfilms 8 жыл бұрын

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

@karenkelleher477 7 жыл бұрын

thank you

@Engineer_Who 8 жыл бұрын

Now I really want to read The Big Space Fuck.

@youknowinhindsight 7 жыл бұрын

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

@johnlemus7921 8 жыл бұрын

Fascinating!

@bolockwood6975 8 жыл бұрын

Lovely animation!

@youdontknowme3935 7 жыл бұрын

this was very nice

@TheNinjaRo 8 жыл бұрын

Vonnegut FTW!

@chrisgagnon9438 8 жыл бұрын

so it goes

@dominickstewart433 6 жыл бұрын

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

@eyeballsushi 8 жыл бұрын

Excellent! 2:22!!

@AdamTaylor_ajgraytay 8 жыл бұрын

That was pretty sweet.

@Len124 6 жыл бұрын

2:29 My name is Yon Yonson...

@shaunmcewin7545 8 жыл бұрын

If love to see a Freddie Mercury one

@salarmarri4801 8 жыл бұрын

yes...

@BlankonblankOrg 8 жыл бұрын

We've added it to the list.

@RobertSlover 8 жыл бұрын

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

@North_Sea 8 жыл бұрын

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

@damok9999 7 жыл бұрын

nothing means anything, artists pretend it does good stuff

@lousalvador1632 5 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

4:00 What a riot. :-)

@doncallangher6177 Жыл бұрын

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.

@zwiguy9494 7 жыл бұрын

inverted bethooven music?

@TypicalUnderscore 7 жыл бұрын

cool

@glaxglax4741 5 жыл бұрын

What’s the piano song!

@napoleoninrags1346 6 жыл бұрын

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

@aphexmandelbrot 3 ай бұрын

Do have a link to the original audio for this?

@conansmith5164 5 жыл бұрын

fucking genius

@ZuluLifesaBeech- 3 жыл бұрын

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

@ferdelance2299 7 жыл бұрын

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

@alecdavidoff8602 7 жыл бұрын

Please, make a video about Philip K Dick

@scolkereybel Жыл бұрын

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.

@OriginalLonelygstar 5 жыл бұрын

He got a B!

@larrybradford4326 8 жыл бұрын

Ace Frehley

@timwright4263 5 жыл бұрын

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

@megazoned3973 3 жыл бұрын

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

@jim1748 7 жыл бұрын

Do William Gibson

@iansullivan9738 3 жыл бұрын

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

@iasimov5960 5 жыл бұрын

Do Isaac Asimov

@GiantDoucheNG 8 жыл бұрын

Bukowski, please

@MrLevonhardt 7 жыл бұрын

What is the musical piece going on throughout the video?

@GoldenScarab45 7 жыл бұрын

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

@obbeachbum69 8 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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

@chuck1prillaman 7 жыл бұрын

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 7 жыл бұрын

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 6 жыл бұрын

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 5 жыл бұрын

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

@jimjamkillsnerds 8 жыл бұрын

4:20 interstellar?

@somethingyousaid5059 5 жыл бұрын

👍 .tugennoV daeR

@lilawakeman1577 8 жыл бұрын

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 8 жыл бұрын

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

@stuvs830 8 жыл бұрын

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 8 жыл бұрын

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 8 жыл бұрын

wow another lila who likes KV

@lilawakeman1577 8 жыл бұрын

We bosses ;)

@LosBerkos 4 жыл бұрын

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

@Ultracity6060 6 жыл бұрын

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

@salarmarri4801 8 жыл бұрын

freddie mercury please

@Patricop2 8 жыл бұрын

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 5 жыл бұрын

MadCalvin be HappyCalvin (I agree the musics annoying)

@caillanmclean8571 4 жыл бұрын

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

@bobbycutts2111 3 жыл бұрын

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

@SFDestiny 4 жыл бұрын

your commercial is jarring, too loud

@orenjistrash6747 6 жыл бұрын

"a war head full of sperm" XD

@reececrump8483 7 жыл бұрын

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

@ahcokris 3 жыл бұрын

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

@musafirioliver 4 жыл бұрын

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

@orsonhurst1248 7 жыл бұрын

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

@scottdowney4103 8 жыл бұрын

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

@sethisley2041 5 жыл бұрын

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

@jamesaritchie1 3 жыл бұрын

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

@jackboyd5162 6 жыл бұрын

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.