The Art of the Prank - ...Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.

March 25, 2007January 15, 2019

God’s dupes by Sam Harris

This article from the LA Times, March 15, 2007 is so incisive and deserving of attention, I hope everyone reads it! Sam Harris is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.” -JS

Moderate believers give cover to religious fanatics — and are every bit as delusional.

Pete Stark, a California Democrat, appears to be the first congressman in U.S. history to acknowledge that he doesn’t believe in God. In a country in which 83% of the population thinks that the Bible is the literal or “inspired” word of the creator of the universe, this took political courage.

Of course, one can imagine that Cicero’s handlers in the 1st century BC lost some sleep when he likened the traditional accounts of the Greco-Roman gods to the “dreams of madmen” and to the “insane mythology of Egypt.”

Mythology is where all gods go to die, and it seems that Stark has secured a place in American history simply by admitting that a fresh grave should be dug for the God of Abraham “” the jealous, genocidal, priggish and self-contradictory tyrant of the Bible and the Koran. Continue reading “God’s dupes by Sam Harris”

March 24, 2007January 15, 2019

The Cacophony Society

The Society is a loosely structured network of individuals, banded together in “the pursuit of experiences beyond the mainstream.” Particularly noteworthy among said experiences are Cacophony”s costumed rampages in the guise of clowns, Santas, dogs, biohazard teams, and post-apocalyptic shoppers, as well pranks and hoaxes including flyers announcing public pigeon roasts, UFO landings, and book-burnings. Continue reading “The Cacophony Society”

March 21, 2007January 15, 2019

The Well Cooked Journalist: A Traditional Recipe

“Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly?” Walton

This delicious recipe for catching and cooking a journalist has been thoroughly tested. It features easy to find ingredients.

This is a very satisfying meal and although I have prepared it many times, one should not be concerned about repeating it too often. There are many ways to change the recipe and the results will always be pleasing. Continue reading “The Well Cooked Journalist: A Traditional Recipe”

March 21, 2007January 15, 2019

Culture Jamming Defined

Here’s a workable definition of Culture Jamming from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -JS

Culture jamming is the act of transforming existing mass media to produce commentary about itself, using the original medium’s communication method. It is a form of public activism which is generally in opposition to commercialism, and the vectors of corporate image. The aim of culture jamming is to create a contrast between corporate or mass media images and the realities or perceived negative side of the corporation or media. This is done symbolically, with the “detournement” of pop iconography.

It is based on the idea that advertising is little more than propaganda for established interests, and that there is a lack of an available means for alternative expression in industrialized nations. Proponents see culture jamming as a resistance movement to the hegemony of popular culture, based on the ideas of “guerrilla communication”.

Culture jamming’s intent differs from that of artistic appropriation (which is done for art’s sake) and vandalism (where destruction or defacement is the primary goal), although its results are not always so easily distinguishable. See the rest at Wikipedia…

March 19, 2007January 15, 2019

Prank You Very Much: The Etiquette of Hoaxing

In my natal family, the holiest of holidays were April Fools, Valentine”s, Halloween, and the first night of Passover, in that order. To joke was to love was to entertain was to celebrate liberty. My friends were brought up to take praying seriously; my brother and I, to take playing seriously. Continue reading “Prank You Very Much: The Etiquette of Hoaxing”