“Double Rainbow” or “Giant Double Rainbow” is the common name of a viral video uploaded by YouTube user Hungrybear9562 where he declares his awe and wonder for a rare “double rainbow.” He eventually starts to cry because he is so struck by its radiance and vividness.
A Brief History of Hungrybear9562
Paul Vasquez, aka Hungrybear9562, aka Yosemitebear, aka Bear, was a firefighter in LA, but then moved to Yosemite National Park in 1985 at the age of 22 years old. Vasquez married and had two children. Although they got divorced about 15 years ago, he is able to see his kids often because they still live near by with their mother. Bear worked in Yosemite from 1985 to 1994. He purchased land near Yosemite in 1988 and built a farm. Bear took up trucking from 1994 to 2004, but, because of his obesity, he was forced to end trucking. To combat his health problems, he took up cagefighting.
Today, Bear lives on the same land plot near Yosemite. He actively participates in the Indian ceremonial culture with his kids, girlfriend, and ex-wife. People ask to visit him on his from multiple times a week from countries around the globe, even before his rise into fame. To read additional information on Bear, click here.
The “Double Rainbow”
The video “Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10” was uploaded to Youtube.com on January 8, 2010, by user Hungrybear9562. The video sat dormant in obscurity and anonymity for months. On July 3, Jimmy Kimmel posted a tweet that linked Twitter users to the video . A little over an hour later, Bill Simmons retweeted the previous tweet on his own board.
On July 4, a short article was posted on The Huffington Post promoting the video. It can be seen here.
On July 5, the Youtube.com user RayWilliamJohnson posted a video that highlighted the Double Rainbow video.
The Know Your Meme Interview
On July 7th, Internet Scientist Elspeth Jane interviewed HungryBear.
Elspeth: Double Rainbows don’t happen every day- is this the first time you’ve caught one on film?
HungryBear: I have lots of rainbow vid on my You Tube page, they come to my
front door on a regular basis.
Elspeth: What type of camera are you using?
HungryBear: A Sony DSC f 828
Elspeth: When was the video taken?
HungryBear: January 8th, 2010
Elspeth: You are in incredibly high spirits during the video- are you usually like that? If so, any advice for us on how to always be that happy and in awe of nature?
HungryBear: The rainbow was the Universe or Spirit flowing through me, the
reaction you heard was how I reacted to seeing the Holy Ghost, kind
of like Moses seeing the burning bush in the 10 commandments.
Elspeth: There’s a small noise in the background that sounds like a windchime. What is it?
HungryBear: I have lots of wind chimes in my front yard, it’s windy and I have
a great view, they go together.
Elspeth: What does your Youtube name mean?
HungryBear: The Yosemite people are the Bear clan, I married into them 25 years
ago and I look like a bear, there is more to it of course.
Elspeth: Can we find you anywhere else online?
HungryBear: http://yosemitedigitalphoto.smugmug.com/
http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/yosemitebear/
Elspeth: What do you think of the attention your video is receiving? Do you like it?
HungryBear: I’m not surprised by the attention, I always knew someday I was
going to go viral, I knew when I shot the vid that it was special, it
was a reaction to the Holy Spirit and people would react to my
reaction, it’s as expected. Spirit is speaking through me, people are
connecting to Spirit through me, they have a sense of recognition of
the power of the Universe. I love it!
Elspeth: Thanks so much!!
Furthermore
On July 8th, in interview with Shira Lazar of CBS News, Vasquez (Hungrybear9562), comments on his video:
What exactly were you shooting on that day?
“That day I was finishing a note to a friend telling her I was like Noah because I’m building what seems to be like an arc here. I have greenhouses and gardens and fern trees and lots of animals here. Right after finishing that email, I look out there and the colors. I walked out with my camera. What you see in the video is what I experienced. That rainbow lasted over an hour. My camera only captured about 40 percent of the color. It was a lot brighter than you see”.
You seemed pretty excited about this rainbow…
“Because you could actually feel the rays down from the sun but it was rainbow rays. You can’t describe it. It was so powerful that it knocked me down”.
The rainbow rays knocked you down?
“You couldn’t see me on the ground, but at one point I had been knocked on the ground. But the rainbow was a double rainbow and then it turned into a triple rainbow. You can’t see it on my camera but the whole thing was filled in with color. It was a giant disc of color. It looked like a giant eye looking at me”.
Is that common to be knocked down by rainbows?
“I don’t think it’s common, but it happened. It was pretty amazing!”
Full interview here
Yosemitebear on Jimmy Kimmel
On July 22, Jimmy Kimmel’s official YouTube channel JimmyKimmelLive displayed Bear in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
As of July 31, 4:26 P.M. CST, the video has 8,445,058 views on YouTube alone.
On July 6, the user schmoyoho (popular for “Auto-Tune the News”) created an Auto-Tuned version of this video.
The song can be purchased here. Proceeds go to Yosemitebear and Auto-Tune the News.
If you feel like being cheap and unsupportive, the song can be downloaded here. Remember, you are stealing.
Other videos and responses have been popping into the spotlight since the video became popular.
A remix involving Kermit the Frog singing “Rainbow Connection” called “The Double Rainbow Connection” was made by voice actor James Urbaniak, who plays Dr. Venture on Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. (see also: James Urbaniak’s Livejournal.
The Double Rainbow Connection (Remix) by gdelahaye
Double Rainbow (deadmau5 modular mayhem mix) by fuckmylife
Double Rainbow by cliff_huxtable
Mike Laurie – Double Complete Rainbow by mikelaurie
Even Cartoon Network picked up on the meme.
