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forteanajones
07-18-2003, 07:44 PM
Could flash mobs be a form of occult manipulation, (intentional or not)? True gorilla theater! I was so close to accidentally being to the second such mob in SF, this week.

Invitation to San Francisco Flash Mob #1 (http://www.cheesebikini.com/blog/archives/000288.html)

Here's the announcement for the first San Francisco flash mob:

You are invited to take part in MOB, the project that creates an
inexplicable mob of people in San Francisco for ten minutes or
less. Please forward this to other people you know who might
like to join.

INSTRUCTIONS - MOB #1
Start time: Wednesday, July 16th, 6:27 pm
Duration: 10 minutes

(1) At some point during the day on July 16th, synchronize your
watch to http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Pacific/d/-8/java.

(2) By 6 PM, based on the month of your birth, please situate
yourselves in the bars below. Buy a drink and act casual. If you
are attending the MOB with friends, you may all meet in the same
bar, so long as at least one of you has the correct birth month for
that bar. January, February, March, April: Union Square Sports
Bar near Powell and O'Farrell. May, June, July, August: Gold
Dust Lounge near Geary and Powell. September,October,
November, December: Red's Corner at Ellis and Mason.

(3) Then or soon thereafter, a MOB representative will appear in
the bar. He or she will pass around slips of paper with your
instructions. Commit the instructions to memory and put the slip
in your pocket. ONCE YOU ARE AT THE MOB SITE, NONE OF
THESE SLIPS OF PAPER SHOULD BE VISIBLE.

(4) Leave the bar and walk to the MOB site. If you arrive near the
final MOB destination before 6:27, stall nearby. NO ONE
SHOULD ARRIVE AT THE FINAL MOB DESTINATION UNTIL
6:26.

(5) The MOB begins at the designated location at 6:27.

(6) At 6:37 you should disperse. NO ONE SHOULD REMAIN AT
THE MOB SITE AFTER 6:39.

(7) Return to what you would otherwise have been doing.

* * * * SPECIAL NOTE: We need FOUR VOLUNTEERS to assist
in passing out instructions. Please reply only if:
(1) You will absolutely positively 100% be at the MOB and can be
in the area by 5:30 on Wednesday.
(2) You are not a squealy.
(3) You are not concerned that passing out small slips of paper
may harm your future chances to run for office.
(4) Your initials are not L.G. (you know who you are)

If you meet the above criteria and would like to volunteer, send a
message with your cell phone number to
mobproject@yahoo.com.

-The San Francisco Mob Project
(writing credit to "Bill")

Halfglass
07-20-2003, 03:14 AM
That's weird. A flex of muscle to The Man? I'd be afraid of a bomb!

Woodpecker
07-20-2003, 07:23 AM
I think it's kind of cute.

Nicole
07-21-2003, 04:03 AM
That's hilarious.

Unfortunately, though, I am thousands of miles away.

StSimon
07-26-2003, 09:20 PM
The MOB stunt began in New York, a few successful MOB's have happened there so far. Spontaneous mobs formed by email.

Lately Portland experienced many protest/police encounters. Text messaging and cell phones assisted in moving protesters constantly rather than blocking a single area, making controlling the demonstrations difficult.

Watch how emerging technologies will confound established authorities...

forteanajones
07-27-2003, 04:49 PM
There are two Yahoo! Groups lists set up for flash-mob notifications:
sf-flachmobs (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sf-flashmobs/)
flashmobs (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flashmobs/)

Proteus
07-31-2003, 10:06 AM
Manipulation? Sounds more like performance art with a double-espresso edge to me. Just returned from some time away to visit family & learned that my sister & her man have mounted an interesting project in a similar vein. They're taking typical Hollywood fare, editing it for language and nudity (a la TBS) and leaving it on winshields & tossing it into every convertible they can find in LA. Recently, they've dropped some of the Porkies movies (which, when edited for language & nudity consume very little videotape). i saw them drop The Man Who Fell to Earth on an SUV at the beach we visited together. They don't even hang around to see what kind of reaction their guerilla tactics get from their "victims."

The basic "message"? Your mass culture video shit -- especially your edited for t.v. mass culture video shit--is so valuless that it can be dropped on total strangers like so many gospel tracts or leaflets advertizing a new pizza place. So, in your face Hollywood! Take that you mindless consumers of corporate moviehouse dreck! ;-D

My take on the MOB thing is that the organizers are doing something similar--part gag, part ironic commentary on (and exploitation of) human foibles, part art project.