…Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.
From Marcy LaViollette:
To put it mildly, the Seattle Police have had a number of questionable uses of force recently, including a couple shootings and a few cases of extreme force. The community isn’t too pleased, including this prankster:
As seen on Slog News and Art
Continue reading “Seattle Police: We’re Killing Everybody We Can!”
Submitted by Marcy LaViollette as seen on Laughing Squid posted by Ed Hunsinger:
San Francisco”™s Answer to Westboro Baptist Church
photo by EDW Lynch
Westboro Baptist Church showed up to protest in front of Twitter”™s San Francisco office on Thursday, but found themselves severely outnumbered by a crowd of absurdist pranksters, including guest blogger EDW Lynch above.
photo by Rubin Starset
WBC”™s hate-promoting signs were answered by multiple signs of randomness, nonsensical yelling, and even a unicorn. A portable stereo blared Lady GaGa, while press and people passing by ignored the WBC signs and took pictures and videos of the more entertaining signs. I was also there and turned on the video camera while holding my sign.
See more here.
Submitted by Marcy LaViollette:
My nerdy alma mater only has around 700 students, and yet cast over 1 million computerized votes in a recent Victoria Secret contest, while also spelling out WIBSTR, which stands for “West is Best, Screw the Rest” (a dorm slogan).
HUMOR LIFE: Harvey Mudd 1, Victoria”™s Secret 0
by Carl Peaslee
CMC Forum
October 15, 2009
It seems that Harvey Mudd students have taken a special interest in the lingerie industry. That”™s right. Our neighbors to the north are up to their brilliant shenanigans once again. Now, I don”™t doubt that those Mudders love a school emblazoned pair of panties as much as the next student body but unless my US News and World Report deceives me, I don”™t remember Harvey Mudd having OVER A MILLION STUDENTS!
The best part is, they didn”™t just rig their own numbers, they catapulted six schools (among them the unlikely Bob Jones and Scripps College) to the top seven spots so that they could spell out the acronym WIBSTR or “West is best screw the rest,” apparently some kind of dorm related boast. Continue reading “Harvey Mudd College Pranks Victoria’s Secret”
Submitted by Marcy LaViollette as seen on Bicycling.com:
Paint Your Lane
by By Dan Koeppel
Bicycling.com
Do-it-yourself bike lanes are illegal, perhaps dangerous, potentially damaging to the cause of legitimate bike advocates everywhere””and really, really effective.
The bridge is calm as Sunday morning dawns. At either end of the span, the freeway ramps are idle. Below, a few shorebirds peck at the marshy floor of the river. This is an out-of-character moment: During the week, thousands of cars pass through here, coming from the north, south and east, pinching into four lanes as they make their way toward the commercial centers of downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and the city beyond.
But at first light on this July 19th, the only vehicles here on Fletcher Drive are three bikes, and those have been stashed in the brush. The cyclists who left them there are setting out traffic cones on the road. When the right-hand lane has been blocked off, the cyclists walk back to the shoulder to retrieve the object that, over the past few weeks, they have come to refer to as The Machine.
The $99 Rust-Oleum 2395000 looks like a tiny, four-wheeled wagon with low ground clearance and a handle that angles backward and up from the bed. The cargo area, so low it sits between the wheels rather than above them, is equipped with a mount for spray-paint cans; in the unused space, you can store five or six extra cans upright, ready to swap in when one runs dry. The 2395000 is most commonly used to create parking-lot stripes. Continue reading “DIY Bike Lanes”
Submitted by Marcy LaViollette from College Humor, March 5, 2009:
Amir makes a blindfolded half-court basketball shot for $500,000. Or so he thinks.
http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1902812&fullscreen=1
Related link (see the other 6 College Humor prank war pranks):