tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079429.post110983254416342044..comments2024-01-22T03:23:54.397-05:00Comments on mmeiser blog: Whirl-Mart - smartmob as protest, action as languageMichael Meiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02136752168371831819noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079429.post-1110030391074117602005-03-05T08:46:00.000-05:002005-03-05T08:46:00.000-05:00On a very much related note. Planned social hacke...On a very much related note. Planned social hackery. I love it.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/fashion/27PRANK.html?ex=1267160400&en=33ad0346e2aa25ac&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland" REL="nofollow">The New York Times > Fashion & Style > When Chekhov Meets Whoopee Cushion</A>: "That sense of gratitude is the intended result, Mr. Todd said. 'It's so much easier to go for the cheap shot and embarrass somebody,' he said. 'That night at Mercury Lounge, those guys believed they were rock gods.'<br /><br />Chuck Palahniuk, the author of 'Fight Club' and a longtime member of the Cacophony Society of Portland, Ore., an underground group that organizes similarly random public stunts, said that what is unique about public acts like Mr. Todd's is 'that people are providing spectacle with no expectation of getting anything in return.'<br /><br />Or, in sociological terms, when Mr. Todd brought together 40 people to dance on his cue at the listening stations at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square or when seven of his agents rode the No. 6 subway last month without pants while giving no indication that they knew each other, it was a benign form of norm violation. Mr. Todd is 'breaking the unwritten laws of everyday life in the city to get people to appreciate the moment,' said Harold Takooshian, Ph.D., who teaches urban psychology at Fordham University. 'As long as he doesn't go dark - and these things can degenerate pretty quickly - this is urban humor at its best.'"<br /><br />More ingo on Charlie Todd <A HREF="http://www.improveverywhere.com/home.php" REL="nofollow">Improv Everywhere: We Cause Scenes</A>Michael Meiserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02136752168371831819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4079429.post-1109873299861536852005-03-03T13:08:00.000-05:002005-03-03T13:08:00.000-05:00I was a dance...I was a dance...Steve Garfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487500183543160661noreply@blogger.com