Day 283: Progress?

by Jason Good on October 16, 2011

in 365°,Parenting and Kids

A couple days ago, while frantically poking Youtube on my phone, Arlo (2) found  the end of the Internet. We’re on month two of a Bob the Builder saturation experiment. We thought if we gave him all the Bob he could handle, he’d get bored. We were wrong. His thirst for Bob has grown so insatiable that it’s forced him to move on to more exotic strains. He’s now hooked on the German version (Bob der Baumeister) and Dutch version (Bob de Bouwer).

It was during a Bob de Baumeister “related videos” clicking binge where he plunged some 300 levels deep into the bowels of the Internet and found a clip that nearly hypnotized all of us. He was running around the house panting and yelling “bob bob bob bob bob bob bob.” He’d discovered something exceptional and needed to share it with us.

It’s taken me a while to write about it because only Arlo was capable of finding the elusive video. There are thousands of Bob videos, and it takes a certain combination of clicks to unlock it.

We were telling our friends about it yesterday and wanted to show it to them (so badly).  Finally, after a stroke of luck, I found it. Lindsay and I got a little too excited, “THIS IS IT, OH MY GOD, THIS IS IT, THIS IS IT, I CAN’T BELIEVE WE FOUND IT! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES.” Our friends pulled back a little, fearing their safety.

So, here it is – the end of the Internet. I encourage you to watch the entire thing so you can feel what we’ve felt for the past 48 hours. It’s only had 31k views, and a third of those were probably us.

Did I over-hype it? Maybe. But you haven’t witnessed joy until you’ve seen Arlo’s face when that woman pops up and says “Yes we can.”

He looks at us like “GUYS, Did you see that LADY?!! What’s she doing in the Bob video!?!? This is insane! Play it again … again … again … Excuse me! Did you see that crazy lady again!? The world is way weirder than I thought!”

I believe there are two types of people in this world: Those who can watch the video once and stop, and those who watch it over and over again until they become political drones for “Munich Solidarity Initiative.”  Whichever type you are, I’m sorry I introduced this into your lives.

  • Jacqui

    I think you feel about this video the way I feel when my sons found “I’m Elmo and I know it”. I particularly love that video, but am kinda sick of hearing it already.

    Wait… “Hey kids, look at these crayons… look at these crayons… look at these crayons, I make art! I’m Elmo and I know it!” DAMNIT!

  • http://sweetestkid.samuliviitasaari.com/ Samuli Viitasaari

    I have to admit, it was me. I saw this video of a Finnish politician – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xheIYUWYctc – in early 2010, and the combination of ‘rally english’ and a total lack of charisma affected me deeply. The idea of a Bob/Jutta mashup video haunted me until I had no choice but bring it to life. It did help, too and I forgot the whole thing for more than a year. This winter, though, I started getting more and more email notifications from YouTube about new comments on this video, and when I finally visited the site again, I noticed there was suddendly over 100K views (now there’s more than 400K).

    So, thanks (I guess) to everyone who liked it, and my apologies for any/all brain damage caused (I don’t take legal responsibility, though). The voices (namely, Jutta’s and Bob’s) made me do it.

    Best regards,
    Samuli Viitasaari
    (DJ Kyykkae)

  • Rachel

    i almost broke down into tears halfway through. i was convinced it was never going to end. i couldn’t handle that thought. i almost stopped it, but then i plowed on through. and now it’s torturing me, because i feel compelled to hit “replay,” but i’m almost certain i’d break down into tears if i did it again.

    WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME??

  • Callie

    I’d watch this video all day long with joy in my heart if that’s all my 2 year old did with my phone. Last time he got hold of it he called my insurance company and through the automated system he changed our policy. And changed my settings to Spanish.

  • Barbary

    I had to test this on my 2 year old. He doesn’t watch Bob but knows of the cartoon. He watched the whole video with that look of joy on his face you were talking about, kept saying “I like this!” and at the end said, “That was great! Watch again?” What have I started?!

  • Mom of Two

    My son found a version of Itsy Bitsy Spider done in an Indian aka Mumbai style. He was on my iPhone and all of sudden we hear Itsy Bitsy Spider with sitar music. My husband decided he had to show EVERYONE this video. I don’t know which was more entertaining-my husband showing everyone the video or the video itself.

    And no I will not watch the video. I need no more video worms. I’ve got enough.

  • Dolan

    Just. Painful

  • Tamara

    I feel like a victim of some weird subliminal message. Will I find myself in the middle of the street shaking my fist and shouting “Yes we can!” in the middle of the night?

    • http://www.jasongood.net Jason Good

      I’ll be right there with ya

  • http://somethingclever2point0.blogspot.com Jenn

    My 2yo followed the same path and is now obsessed with this Belgian M&Ms commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4VvZimrEvw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

  • JB

    Once was more than enough.

  • Kiera

    That will be stuck in my head for years to come….

  • Melissa D

    haha that lady scared me the first time she popped up!! I don’t think I will show this to my son…he is one of those that will watch it over and over!

  • Megan

    Thank you for this. I just got in trouble at work for snarfling my coffee all over my desk and guffawing, thus drawing attention to the fact that I’m not doing my work. Just the same, thank you. I will be sharing this with the masses.

  • L

    The woman in the clip is the Minister of Finance in Finland… And I feel ashamed to be a Finn right now…

    • http://www.jasongood.net Jason Good

      WOH! Any idea how old it is?

      • L

        It shouldn’t be older than six months as the parlament election was in last April. I don’t recall that spesific speech, but it must be related to the EU in some way. I feel ashamed…

  • Jessi

    My son will also watch Cailliou in any language. Unfortunately whining is universal. And for whatever reason Caillou lends itself to being molested by 13 year olds with video chopping software. We’ve dubbed those the ‘bad Caillous.’ Bad being relative, of course. I’d take Bob any day.

  • Abigail

    Wow. Just wow. Thank God my son got over that stage fast. Although, here at our house, we’re hooked on Spiderman, and APPARENTLY, I don’t know how to sing the theme song properly, and he WILL take every opportunity available to inform me of such.

  • Jen

    Ahh, this reminds me of my frantic YouTube search for a monkey eating a banana- surely that would convince my son to eat a banana. Instead, he click and clicked his way to the monkey with giant testicles video. Maybe the other end of the Internet? I would have watched this B the B video if embedded videos ever worked on my iPhone!

    • http://www.jasongood.net Jason Good

      Thats weird. It works on my iPhone

  • Diane

    Really scary and creepy. Happy Halloween.

  • http://countingchickens.wordpress.com meridith

    you had me hooked with the previous post about “B the B” – I’d never seen b the b before but as my daughter is one and a half, I’m pretty sure it’s coming.

  • gina

    I was sure I’d be one of those who can watch it just once. But then I watched it.

    • http://www.jasongood.net Jason Good

      I’m so sorry, Gina.

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