The Utah Monolith, What It Means, Why It Matters, and Whether It's Aliens
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- Опубликовано: 30 ноя 2020
- In which John discusses a metal obelisk that stood for years unnoticed in the Utah desert before being discovered by some wildlife biologists, whereupon the monolith quickly disappeared. Also discussed: contemporary art in deserts, Gertrude Stein's essay What Are Masterpieces and Why Are There So Few of Them, and John's ongoing obsession with that one line from The Great Gatsby. SOURCES AND CREDITS:
The footage of Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels (completed in 1976) and Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty (1970) are from The Art Assignment's Spiral Jetty, Sun Tunnels, and Salt: • Spiral Jetty, Sun Tunn...
Unless otherwise noted, footage of the obelisk is from the Bureau of Land Management or the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
The photograph of Elmgreen and Dragset's Prada Marfa (2005) is by Nan Palmero. The photograph of the obelisk at 2:45 of this video is by Patrick A. Mackey.
The New York Times story about John McCracken's work and the monolith: www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/ar...
And the Salt Lake Tribune's article: www.sltrib.com/news/2020/11/2...
You can also see some phenomenal photographs of the obelisk here: durangoherald.com/articles/35...
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Hi. No secret live stream today; sorry! I will try to have one later this week, but wow is it hard to oversee e-learning and also work.
In other news, there's never been a better time to read the brilliant novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, which is the rare novel that over time just becomes ever more prescient and fascinating in its cultural analysis. And it makes a wonderful gift this holiday season. Okay thanks for being here and Long Live The Monolith Even If It Only Survives In Our Imagination Which Is The Only Place That Art Can Survive Anyway. -John
We get it John life is crazy right now! Whenever you have time we’ll see you. Until then spend time with your family and enjoy e learning! DFTBA
No sweat, John. Take care
As a teacher, I completely get why e-learning is hard as a parent. And believe me, it is also hard as a teacher...I am lucky enough to still be teaching in person but that has its own downsides unfortunately...
I need to sit and think about the fact that art only survives in our imagination
Assuming a Cartesian Rationalist approach to Epistemology, isn't our imagination the only place anything can survive?...
The monolith's location was a complete secret, so, naturally the whole world knows.
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Reddit kids founds it using Google Earth within 24 hours
@@stuff0987 yes... I believe that was the joke...
@@ghostprime6320 We'd love to invite you on our podcast as a guest ❤️
We’ve basically confirmed that Hank Green is in fact a time traveler
Honestly, would anyone be surprised if this were true?
I mean, he did predict some stuff from the Deathly Hallows. He is either a time traveler or clairvoyant.
Hank... Where's your TARDIS? Cough it up.
There's a lot of knowledge you can obtain by being a time traveler. Even the most obscure, most wretched and condemned kinds of knowledge. See where this is going, don't you? Butt is legs.
Like Sir Terry Pratchett?
i love the idea that the artist put the monolith there with full intentions to mysteriously remove it once it became known. the monolith isnt the art piece, the reaction and the mystery is the art piece. i love that idea.
"In the meantime, let's revel in the mystery" *sobbing*
I Visited the monolith and investigated what was happening. The videos are on my channel RIGHT NOW
Yeah a guy did a thing
Seems like a bit of an overreaction, but ok.
ruclips.net/video/j-pKKM6CXr0/видео.html
Is that you Dr Lindsey doe from sexplanations? 🤫 It was a monolith for mating rituals in the moonlight by a cult that's my head cannon. What's your theory Lindsey?
Some of you have asked: What about the one in Romania? The one in Romania seems to me likely to have been a copycat (although I'd love to be wrong). There are some important differences, with the main one being that the steel of the Romanian structure was not buffed to mirror-ness, which combined with the site and the fact that it was not hiding from us for years gives it (in my opinion, anyway) a vastly different vibe. -John
Aren't these all just copy cats of 2001 A Space Odyssey? Not that I don't enjoy them any less.
The Romanian appears to have been put up around the same time from google searches
as someone from Romania I believe the one here was probably made by some teenagers in their garage or something of the sort
Also the welding in Romania wasn’t very good, you could still see the angle-grinder marks lmao
You should pin this so everyone sees it first.
I REALLY hope it's not a copycat. This kinda has the vibe to me of those famous encryption puzzles that turned into global collaborative scavenger hunts, but with a more ethereal, artistic abstractness to it.
Given that it’s 2020, that toilet paper could have been an offering.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one that saw the irony in counting sheep and finding something out of a dream.
It was the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey
I Visited the monolith and investigated what was happening. The videos are on my channel RIGHT NOW
John before making any video: "What topic should I choose so that I can bring up Great Gatsby?"
Haha
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john mentions Gatsby as much as I mentions John
hahaha Yes! I chuckled!
...Is 'chuckled' an old people word yet? Wait, nevermind. Don't tell me. Ignorance is blissful
if you can bounce high, bounce for literary references too.
And there are also things that aren’t there _after_ you notice them (probability waves). And that you don’t notice _until_ they aren’t there (your health).
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josh!!
Not just your health. Pretty much everything related to the social safety net. Social assistance, long term disability, sick days, medical care, that kinda stuff.
You are absolutely right about health. I never really appreciated my health until it fell apart. In a 3 month span I was diagnosed with epilepsy and developed chronic hives so I became starkly aware of how quickly you can lose things from your life that you once took for granted
That's why it's so, so, so hard to get people to quit smoking, lose weight, etc. when they're healthy! I have chronic health issues and all my young peers who talk about how it won't be a big deal if they get covid scoff when I bring up young, healthy "long haulers". *sigh*
as a utahn, all the attention on the monolith has been a wild ride, but i’m glad its gone simply because southern utah is such a beautiful natural site. seeing the trash left and tire tracks definitely hurt my heart a little. on the bright side hopefully the attention lets more people realize how beautiful and awe-inspiring the natural world is!
If there’s one thing humans are good at it’s destroying natural beauty. It broke my heart to see that too.
How do they get to appreciate it if they can't see it?
Beauty has to be seen to be beauty..it is a conundrum......
@@davidd5448 there's less destructive ways to see stuff
fellow utahn here! just wanted to say hello and i agree
All I have to say is, “I did a thing”
He only made one monolith.
@@krazyleprechaun2360 or maybe they stole it at night
exactly, just did A thing
At the beginning he said he made more than just one XD
They hopped on the bandwagon for views.
Honestly whoever put it there and then took it away really are doing a lot of work for no glory. I appreciate that 😌
Same. Choosing not to be famous is the most un-2020 thing that's happened all year. -John
@@vlogbrothers +
@@vlogbrothers agree! It's interesting the things we find beautiful and interesting that we will never know the back story of. We know so much these days It's almost refreshing to see something beautiful and not understand it.
I feel like the person who put it there probably isn’t the person/people who removed it
@@jobriq5 True. You guessed correctly. Trust your feelings, you knew them to be true.
Immediately thought of Hank when this story was covered.
Me too! I thought right away that needfighteria was going to love this one.
@@ZePopTart let's be real, no way the "aliens" weren't Nerdfighters :)
Same
Same :)
@@ZePopTart +
I didn’t know I needed this until I needed it. I appreciate you talking us through the difference between art that excites a bit and art that thrills completely.
"...it excites them a little, but it doesn't really thrill them." Wow. That puts into words something I hadn't been able to until now. Wonderful, thank you for sharing that Gertrude Stein quote!
"let's revel in the mystery" are five beautiful words and i'm going to remember them
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that would be such a good tattoo
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@@namitaseshadri2638 i mean reading cady's comment inspired me to write that quote on my arm in pretty letters with a sharpie so i think i got close enough
Lol this monolith seems like the kind of art I would make: placing a random object in the middle of nowhere and just seeing how long it takes for someone to notice. Meaning while, its my own private dumb joke that continues on after said object "mysteriously disappears".
lol
it's not a monolith, a monolith is one solid piece of stone this is just metal rivetted together
@@NGRevenant Finally someone pointed it out!
ruclips.net/video/j-pKKM6CXr0/видео.html
@@Bottlethebubbles So if I go by your username, that's a rubbish animation?
AART came out in 2018, and the monolith was estimated to have been there since 2016, so maybe the monolith told Hank to write the book (but to anonymise Carl of course).
"Let's revel in mystery" is so goooood it reminds me of being in college and thinking THIS IS THE COOLEST I DON'T GET IT AT ALL about everything I was learning- so thanks for bringing me that little reminder of my past self.
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@Darian Levey Oh boy, I'm both taking and teaching online classes right now and I agree that remote learning can be a struggle. I hope the time you're saving on the commute can give you a chance to focus on the little things that are the most interesting in your classes, even if they aren't the most 'relevant'! Good luck :)
The first thing I thought when I saw this was....An Absolutely Remarkable Thing! It's a CARL! lol
YES
Me too!!
Ayee. Lol
Me too!
yeah, me too. I was like, oh hi Carl...especially when another showed up in Romania
This is why I love Vlogbrothers, not only had I not heard about this but I love John's take on the matter and it makes me feel so excited about art!
MR.GREEN! My history teacher put your videos on everyday in my class freshman year and I have a hard time focusing but I actually learned things when he put you on. It’s great to see you!
Plot twist: this is an alternate reality game to promote the _third_ book in the Carl series.
Please!
WE'RE OK TO GOOOO
That would be absolutely remarkable!
A Tremendously Unexpected Occurrence
John's in on it. It's the Carls. He knows Hank is a time traveler
The entire Green family, as a matter of fact.
Unless it’s Dave Green who’s responsible
We need @AprilMaybeNot
Yep
"The maybes are essentials to what makes art feel visceral and thrilling to me" - LOVE IT.
It was waiting for us the whole time and we didn't know it was there ...how profound and intellectually challenging ...thank you so much for this you tube clip it has changed my life forever and ever....just like toilet paper in the desert.
I love the idea of ephemeral art. Art that can only be experienced in a fleeting moment. In a way, I'm reminded of Andy Goldsworthy who creates beautiful, mystical art out of nature, only for it to succumb to nature.
hey Steve, I folow your channle, I did not realize you were a nerdfighter!
If you're into that check out 'hamacream'. he's a Japanese teacher that creates stunning artwork on chalk boards and then wipes it all away.
This strikes at my profound love for participating in live entertainment. And reminds me how much I miss it.
That's what I like about live music. It's only there in the moment, and it never returns.
That hunk of metal is not art. It's a piece of trash. Those are not artists. They lack no skill and ability whatsoever. They think they're funny. They're dumb
This is a fairly Hank story with a fairly John conclusion.
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In the time between classes and finals, I had forgotten what day it was, and I fully expected this to be a Hank video.
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ah john green, i missed you so much. It's as if my life's innocence was when i followed your amazing videos and waiting for the mongol montage. I know the world is still just the same.. but life for me is no long the same. love you man.
Thanks for quoting Gertrude Stein! It reminded me that I really need to return to my thesis!
10 years later and John and Hank are just as we began: curious, perspective-shifting, and such that I feel they are friends I’ve never met.
Petition to call the monolith Carl's Jr?
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I wheezed
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It brings me so much DELIGHT to learn that this exists and that it is very beautiful and very mysterious. Thank you John!!
OMG Thank you so much for this video!! I only make time for me to watch youtube videos on the weekends, and only yesterday I started reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, and I couldn't sleep thinking about what Hank would say about the monolith. Thank you John, i needed that.
That feeling of awe and fear and fascination that one experiences when encountering an overwhelming mystery🔥🔥
I first experienced it when I was a kid and saw a whole documentary on TV about the pyramids in Egypt
Hank’s work just keeps making more sense as we progress into the future!
Great hearing from you, John. I do hope for more episodes of The Anthropocene Reviewed.
I could listen to this man all day! Very captivating and intelligent🤔
I immediately thought of Hank’s book
After it disappeared, I was talking to my parents about it, and I ended up showing them John's video from a few years ago about the Broccoli Tree, which was killed after it became internationally famous. John used the word 'parable' to describe that story, and given how much it seems to repeat, I think he was right. But oh my god, it being found by people who were literally counting sheep is just the kind of beautifully unsubtle metaphor that would start a slightly pretentious alien movie and I love that this is real life.
What if these monoliths were meant for surveying, and we just keep messing their data up
this is what I come to vlog brothers on Tuesdays for
I miss The Art Assignment
🌷
Same
same, it was fun and had cool things
The Art Assignment.
Hmmmng me too
Us: Aliens!?
John: What if I told you there is something more important than knowing where it came from?
Me: Come on now John, what could you possibly say that would chan-
Well we're they leagal or illegal aliens?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ay it's cinema wins. Love your videos.
Seeing CinemaWins comments is always a win
*Ding*
@@pattihainline1573 ...we're gonna need a bigger wall
I Visited the monolith and investigated what was happening. The videos are on my channel RIGHT NOW
Nicely said, John.
Great analysis, art criticism at its best . Philosophical, historical and literary.
i am currently managing the twitter account for hank's local publisher and many many people have made jokes about AART. i mean, the man predicted harry potter, the plot thickens
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Who's going to write the time-traveling Hang mystery-adventure story?
Oh my god.... The Evil Baby Orphanage. Hank learned to time-travel to build the Evil Baby Orphanage!!!
@@nitfens6863 :O It all fits together!
Honestly I'm glad it was taken down so quickly. I'm from Utah, and southern Utah is my favorite place in the world. It's also an extremely fragile ecosystem (most backpacking routes are limited because of erosion concerns), and my stomach dropped when I saw those tire tracks and the TP. I understand the urge to make art, but that desert is precious and endangered.
Thanks for putting it into words, John!! I love the artistic fascination of who made it , why is it gone, and wow is it cool it was discovered in 2020.
Thanks for the video ❤️
I'm in the hospital with an unspecified eating disorder (there isn't even a specified deputy for it) and I'm in dire need of John videos.
i love how this video doesn’t even touch on the one in romania
I think the one in Romania is unfortunately almost definitely just a copycat. The big difference is the finish of the metal. The finish of the one in the desert is very difficult to achieve. But I hope I'm wrong! -John
@@vlogbrothers does the present of copycats now change the definition of the art? I would like to think that the project was initially to be there until it's noticed and then disappear, like it did. But if there are copycats, does that diminish the original work?
@@iamthebock I feel like a lot of art builds off of other art. I don't think it diminishes the original even if it has the potential to change the way that we think about it.
@@vlogbrothers definitely not a copy, I can bet a buch of gypses took it on a cart and brought it here
@@iamthebock like beauty, whether it diminishes the original or not is entirely up to the beholder. Its totally valid to think it does and simultaneously valid to think that it doesn't. As others pointed out though, all art is derived in some way so I prefer to not think that originals are diminished by iterations.
I’m absolutely in love with this story and ideas that have come up around it.
The fact that you revel in the mystery is wonderful. The fact that one of your hypothesised explanations of its disappearance doesn't involve a bunch of drunk teenage football players and a pickup says more about you than could be put in an entire set of encyclopedias, and it is all good. Thank you
"I DID A THING"
He was just clout chasing he made one in Australia
All I can think about with that thing is 2001: A Space Odyssey
Me too! Honestly I have no idea why nobody’s talking about the similar vibes between the monoliths. Awe-inspiring and vaguely threatening.
Yes! I thought the exact same thing, it's incredibly similar.
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@@bethaniewilde2616 Here in Brazil the tv news showed scenes of the movie and compared it with the Utah monolith
It seems like around 50% of the comments on videos about the monoliths (aka a long steel triangle that 5 obnoxious RUclipsrs used as litter) are saying the exact same thing. Yet somehow people say "nobody's talking about the similarity of 2001: ASO" even though it's almost all people are saying lol
"The 'maybes' are essential to what makes art feel visceral and thrilling to me." -- this is such a beautiful expression of a thought I've been trying to put together re "fanfic" vs "canon". Life would be much worse if we had a definite answer to whether [spoiler] in LFA was [spoiler] or [spoiler], or if we had only one "correct" interpretation for Johnlock, or if Macbeth could only be actually reluctant OR pretending to be reluctant. It's the uncertainty that makes the art, art: the fact that it can be all those things at once.
excellent eloquent articulation!
Don't worry some Aussie just mark their territory
It's fake, he's just clout chasing
that ‘probably’ after ‘it wasn’t aliens’ = the fuzzy feeling i’ve had all year
man i love a good human art mystery! i have been so excited about this. i hope whoever removed it puts it in a new place and we just keep this mystery going as an adventure
My current theory is that the artist's plan all along was to remove it when it had been discovered. the idea of art all alone in the desert is so fascinating to me. it's a very tree falling with no one to hear it feeling. like, was it art before we knew about it?
I agree fully about your disposition toward art. I feel most curators (and museums) fail miserably in this respect. They fail to provide the viewer with that most important quality of mystery and care only for propping up their tired, contemporary collections and/or creating controversy. Thanks and be well!
Does a monolith in the desert exist if no one experiences it?
(And if it's removed as soon as it is experienced?)
yes lots of bacteria get to experience it
the part about it waiting for us all this time and disappearing when we found it made me cry a little. I just love art. and/or aliens. Both.
it was I did a thing, he was promoting a new show
I guess no one heard that a new one has suddenly popped up in Romania, now.
Isle of Wight
Giorgio: ALIENS!
John: Not quit-
Giorgio: *W R O N G*
Maybe the timelines shifted to bring the monolith from Night Vale to Utah.
oh my god i want to hear cecil give this news story so bad
I cant wait until Ancient Aliens covers this in like 20 years.
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What a great way to advertise your novel..good luck!👏👽
You expressed all of my thoughts on this artwork. I've been moved by sculpture before but this work really impressed me, for the reasons you describe. I was convinced that it was a McCracken, or at least inspired by his work. I find it implausible that someone who doesn't have an artistic eye would choose such a location by accident for their prank or hoax. In my opinion it was carefully considered and positioned, taking into account the contrasting environment. There was artistic meaning in it and that rarely happens by accident, especially not within such a large landscape of possibilities. Whoever put that monolith there knew what they were doing, from an artist's perspective.
It's sad that it's gone. I would have liked for it to have remained there untouched but appreciated from a distance, but I have to also admit that its removal might add something to the artwork - like Banksy shredding his 'Girl with balloon' piece in the auction hall.
I wondered if you might talk about this! My favorite piece of news last week.
What I love about it is that it's a little weird secrete waiting to be discovered, it makes the world more mysterious because someone just found something new and unexpected.
The only other thing that feels a little like it is a real good easter egg. But a real life one, and one you weren't searching for.
I immediately thought of Hanks books when I saw the latest story!
here's what I learned,
thrill means : feeling which comes from a transitory enchanted moments when human experience something commensurate to their capacity to wonder, to borrow a phrase from The Great Gatsby.
This remind anyone else of the parable of the Broccoli Tree???
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Yes
YES YES YES! It's like the people that made the Monolith pointed out their own broccoli tree. But it didn't get a lot of a chance to have an audience as much. But perhaps the actual people that wanted attention from it took it down. pebrgiperbgipebpiewb
Yes. And neolithic cave paintings and endangered species and all sorts of other things that fit the description of existing a long time before we knew it was there and disappearing after we found it.
Spoiler: it's not aliens. BUT I REALLY WISH IT WASSSSSSSSSSSS
The scientific response to basically every extraordinary news story
I read this in Hank's voice
I don't. Aliens need to ask out permission before they come here.
how do you know its not aliens? sorry for my ignorance but i cant quite understand why everyone is so certain that its not otherworldly.
You're very optimistic, Hank
Your humor is so dry and so quick. Love it take my sub!
John it reappeared in Romania and has since disappeared. It’s also been photographed being removed in Utah
Link please? Or is this another mystery that we must solve?
@@ThisIsReMarkable instagram.com/p/CIOOkwMBkAS/?igshid=1wpccvuc1vvjr
"In the meantime let's revel in the mystery" I've always been fairly uncomfortable in the meantime and I feel as though 2020 is the most in the meantime of places I've ever been. I would like to be more than comfortable with the meantime, I want to revel in it's mystery.
Great video.
Hey John green I subscribe I really enjoyed your books when I was locked up I read almost all your books my favorite were looking for Alaska, fault in our stars, paper towns
1:16 that's the best "probably" ive seen in a while.
Really love the idea of things that are there until you notice them. What are some other examples of this?
As a listener of The Anthropocene Reviewed, this is the first time I've seen this channel. John used the term obelisk instead of monolith and there was a Gatsby reference, I am not disappointed.
I've thought for awhile that that former kind of art (the kind that impresses through technical mastery), is the kind that appeals most to me. Both between the art I gravitate to in an art museum and the music I listen to. Which is not to disparage the other kind (and I know you were not disparaging this kind), but I've considered it before so it was neat to hear that such a distinction has been discussed before.
I wonder if they scoped out the location first or if they just wandered into the desert with an obelisk and a saw hoping to find just the right alcove
I should probably watch 2001: A Space Odyssey at some point, to get a broader context here.
Overhyped, in my personal opinion :)
The book is much better
I'm genuinely surprised at how little mention (in general) there has been of 2001 despite the fact that a monolith in the desert is a pretty on-the-nose homage to that movie (assuming it was put there by humans... which may not be the best assumption).
@@TheMunz I know! It was literally my first thought when I read the news story. Maybe I’m just a huge nerd though! 🤷♀️
@@TheMunz yeah I thought the same thing! Maybe it's... by design?
1:52 I'd literally buy that as a painting that view is so cool
Love that Rudolf Otto reference!
I see our Christmas present is gonna be an alien invasion
I definitely expected Hank to be the one to make this video
For understanding the concept regarding the Metal Monoliths, their TIMELINES (in order of appearance), rumours associated with it etc. watch this video:
ruclips.net/video/vj4Qjab8HNQ/видео.html
I just heard about the monolith today and for the life of me thought this had been covered before. It looked soooo familiar! Thank you for mentioning that artist, John! That must be where I've seen it before. I really thought they were just revisiting an old story. Then of course I thought, it's a Carl! Lol. :)
Technically, it's a "monometallum" not a "monolith"; it's made out of metal, not stone.
well its named after the monolith from 2001: a space oddyssey
"been there for years?" COULD HAVE been there for years. Mark my words, it's a viral ad campaign
Satellite photography shows it has been there since 2016.
Only way to fake that would be to hack the fake photos into the Pentagon and NASA
@@Crick1952 yeah definitely, the only two ways a dark blurry rectangle could appear on satellite imaging would be either an enormous steel sculpture being placed in that spot and remaining undiscovered for 4 years, or someone hacked into the computers at NASA and the pentagon 🙄
Totally agree Rob. All the footage has a very "reality TV" hunting down a squatch vibe. The monolith didn't even look very large or that well made. If aliens did create this and are using sheet-metal and rivets (which is how it was described by those who inspected) then I am going to hard pass on that first contact. "Government surveyors" discovered it which if were true and even remotely possibly "alien" I doubt we would have heard any of this. The satellite image or blurred shadow (if a real satellite image) was probably found first and then that site was chosen to provide some sort of evidence? Also not at one point did I ever get the vibe that it's size and location could made a "shadow" like that on a satellite image.
The only thing I am still left questioning here is why John is not even mentioning this as a possibility. Is he in on the campaign? Maybe this wont be an ad campaign for Gucci slides for dogs. Maybe once all the pieces are there it will be some grand statement about something half important... but my money on puppy slides. lol
You are so eloquent it hurts! in a good way.
I gave my mom AART and she gave it to my dad, they both loved it. My mom has been referring to the monolith as “Carl.”