Posted on 05/12/2020 4:20:41 PM PDT by HonkyTonkMan
Paul Vasquez, the burly mountain man whose awestruck reaction upon seeing a double rainbow propelled him to internet stardom and turned him into a folk hero, has died in Central California. He was 57.
Vasquez, who called himself Yosemitebear on social media, died early Saturday at a hospital emergency room, the Mariposa County coroner's office told the Modesto Bee.
'It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky! What does it all mean?' Paul Vasquez, in the viral video The cause of death has not been released. Vasquez had recently posted on his Facebook page that he had gone to get tested for COVID-19 but learned about another unspecified ailment.
In January 2010, Vasquez posted on YouTube a video shot from his mountainside house of a set of rainbows overlooking Mariposa County. He notes in the caption that the camera couldn't capture the rainbows' intensity and brightness.
But that wasn't what led to 46 million views of the video. It was Vasquez's reaction.
Over the course of the three-minute video, he repeatedly said, Whoa," laughed and even sobbed as he marveled at the sight of the rainbows.
It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky!" he exclaimed.
He went on to ponder: What does it all mean?
The video went viral that summer after talk show host Jimmy Kimmel tweeted about it, and it led to appearances on a number of TV shows and commercials for Smartwater, Microsoft and Delta Air Lines.
Sponsored His Double Rainbow basically wrote the book on what a viral video was, Vasquez's friend, Robert Borchard, told the Bee. He called Vasquez an amazing character who was always enthusiastic about the world.
In a 2015 interview with CNN, Vasquez said he was working as a Los Angeles County firefighter before moving in the mid-1980s to Mariposa, where he worked odd jobs and lived alone in a mobile home close to Yosemite National Park.
A cannabis grower and user, he said he wasn't high when he shot the video. He told CNN that his solitude allowed him to connect to nature on a deep level and gave him a freedom most people could never understand.
You can't look at a rainbow anymore and not think about me, he said.
Ten years ago, Paul Vasquez posted on YouTube a video of a set of rainbows overlooking Mariposa County. (Screenshot of video by Paul Vasquez)
Here's a link to the original video from Paul.
Genesis 9:13-16
13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth
Well, here is a link to my “Paul Vasquez” who died two years ago.
https://people.com/tv/sons-of-anarchy-star-paul-vasquez-dead-heart-attack/
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/sons-of-anarchy-actor-paul-john-vasquez-dead-at-48
I remember seeing that YouTube and hearing that tape.
He was so wild with joy, it was funny.
He says that he wasn’t high during the taping.
I have my doubts. Maybe he had just come down from a high.
No info on what he died from. If there was any chance it could have been COVID related, that would have been in the headline. Maybe he just ate the wrong mushrooms.
Nooooooooo!
“What does it meeeeeeeeean!”
RIP.
Someone auto-tuned his Double Rainbow into a song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0D4oZwCsA
Paul seemed like a good natured, easy going person. I watched an interview where he said that video was his “gift” to the world. So great to share a small moment with 47M friends!
Having seen many double rainbows streached across the north shore of Maui I can attest to the great feeling it does arouse.
But for a real thrill seeing double moonbows will just blow your mind. Have seen them fully arched across the landscape - infinite shades of gray.
WarHawk 1 day agoAccording to a Facebook reply when asked about covid19 test results:
"its a long story that ends with me not having Coronavirus but a ticking bomb in my chest that could go off at any moment."
I saw the word ‘viral’ in the article
His death MUST be Fauci-related
RIP.
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