Double Rainbow

JUL 08 2010 · 12:00

Paul Vasquez (Yosemitebear) loops on the double rainbow over Yosemite, July 2010, in the Gregory Brothers Schmoyoho remix that locked the moment in Place: A property near Yosemite National Park, California Figures: Paul 'Yosemitebear62' Vasquez, videographer and reactor · Jimmy Kimmel, who tweeted the link Paul Vasquez uploads a three-and-a-half minute video to YouTube of his own emotional reaction to a double rainbow over his property near Yosemite. He sobs. He laughs. He asks what does it mean? in a voice that will be quoted back at him for the rest of his life. The video sits at a few thousand views for six months. On 3 July 2010 Jimmy Kimmel tweets the link. Within weeks the original is at twenty million views. The GIF cuts arrive within hours of the Kimmel tweet. The rainbow itself, the Vasquez face mid-sob, the WHOA mouth, the trembling camera. The video-to-GIF pipeline, which had been ad-hoc since the Dancing Baby (see [[dancing-baby-1996]]), is now an industry. Video: Paul Vasquez's original three-and-a-half-minute YouTube upload from his property near Yosemite, 8 January 2010. Sat at a few thousand views until Jimmy Kimmel tweeted it on 3 July; 52 million views and counting.