THEATER REVIEW: MADONNA IN “THE TITLE” (2003) * (1 star out of 4).
The joke of this play is that its a play about a producer and a director trying to trick people into seeing a play by putting “Madonna” in the title of the play “‘Madonna’ in the title” in such a way that it seems like she’s in it, “Madonna in ‘The Title.'” This is, in fact, what the actual creators of this play did. Quite a little more sleazy than clever, surely, but fair enough, I suppose. I mean, who’d expect Madonna to actually be in a $15 NYC Fringe Festival play, anyway, right? But here’s the complete description of the play that convinced me it was worth my time and money, and that of my visiting family, and why all performances of this very mediocre show completely sold out before opening night:
“Madonna (yes, MADONNA) stars in this FringeNYC Comedy about two dimwits who plot a murder for money to produce a comedy at FringeNYC starring Madonna! Expect the unexpected as producers Jaxx and Ger bring you high camp, high actors and a big “Hi” from everyone’s favorite Material Mom.”
That’s not a tiny bit clever– that’s just fraud. Accordingly, my parents decided to do a chargeback on their credit card purchase of the tickets!
THEATER REVIEW: EVA (2003) no stars (0 stars out of 4).
Part of the NYC International Fringe Festival, going on now through August 24th, Eva seems exactly like those terrible, terrible experimental theater productions that people are always going to on TV or in the movies. That sort of “crazy” show is par for the course at the Fringe Festival, but they’re also supposed to be good and interesting, and not just weird. Five minutes of it, as a parody of the sort of crazy experimental show that it actually is would have been brilliant; but enduring it for an hour certainly does not work as a parody of itself, nor on any other level.
The show consists of two, nearly-motionless women, each representing half of Eva Braun’s inner dialogue in her last moments alive, bleating out pseudo-intellectual aphorisms in a trance-like monotone, occasionally punctuated by loud chimes or alarm bells, presumably to keep patrons awake. “Where is the chair?” “There is no chair.” “I am behind the chair, which does not exist.” It doesn’t get any deeper than that, and believe me, I am not taking that out of context.
I can’t imagine why this show was made in the first place. It could only have seemed acceptable to its creators in the same way that people don’t seem to mind the smell of their own farts.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
It was my parents anniversary yesterday, August 11.
To celebrate, we went to the Central Park Zoo, Salon Mexico, Avenue Q, and Tagine.
By a complete coincidence, it’s also the anniversary of my company, Charge.Com
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: SALON MEXICO * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
Salon Mexico at 134 e. 26th Street was recently written up in the NY Post on account of its selling a $45 burrito. Stuffed with truffles and fillet mignon, it would make a big meal for two people, and enough for three or four with some appetizers. We split it five ways as a late afternoon snack, since we weren’t eating dinner until after our show, at 10:30. It was fabulous! So, if you’ve got a friend or two to share it with, it’s worth every penny.
Interestingly, and not mentioned in the Post story, when I was there Monday, their daily special was a $65 burrito, which I didn’t try, which was stuffed with sashimi!
THEATER REVIEW: AVENUE Q * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
This new musical, which recently moved to Broadway from Off Broadway, is a parody of children’s programs in general, and of Sesame Street in particular. But tackling such subjects as racism, casual sex, homeless, and coming out of the closet, it’s definitely not for children!
It’s very funny, but after all the great reviews I’d heard, I expected it to be just a little funnier. And I found the ending too trite. I think it was making fun of trite endings, but, just the same, it was a little unsatisfying. But the show was very clever and original and very funny, and it is highly recommended.
IMMEASURABLE SORROW.
How can you tell if God is testing you, if God is punishing you, or if God has abandoned you? What would be the difference?
MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS (2003) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
This compelling documentary certainly leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. In the early 1980s, the Friedman family was one of the first to buy a video camera. By coincidence, at this same time, while they were constantly playing with their brand new toy by filming all the time, the father and one of the sons were accused of sodomizing children. The result is an amazing record of what this family experienced at the time. Combined with new testimony by the witnesses, law enforcement officials, and other people involved at the time, the film raises deep questions about the guilt or innocence of the parties, which are not simple to answer one way or the other. The presentation is very even-handed, presenting the very best evidence for both sides.
While the film is simply extraordinary as an artifact of history or of sociology, it drags a little at times as a work of mass entertainment. It really could have been a little shorter, and still been every bit as effective on every level. Even so, the film is very compelling and extremely watchable and very, very sad, whether they were guilty or not.
OKAY, NOW THAT’S JUST MESSED UP.
For the last few weeks the most common search term, by far, used by people who find this blog is some variation of “three’s company john ritter testicle.” My September 2002 archive scores pretty high on the search engines for that search because of this article, discussing (among other painful choices) whether it would be worse for a man to lose a finger or a testacle, and this article, reviewing the movie Tadpole. So, for at least the past couple weeks, I get at least half a dozen hits to this page every day from people searching for John Ritter’s testicles. Does anybody know what this is about? I’ve tried to search on this myself, and I can’t figure out what these people are looking for.
MOB #6.
All are invited.
———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 23:32:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: The Mob Project
To: themobproject@yahoo.com
Subject: MOB #6
You are invited to take part in MOB, the project that
creates an inexplicable mob of people in New York City
for ten minutes or less. Please forward this to other
people you know who might like to join.
FAQ
Q. Why would I want to join an inexplicable mob?
A. Tons of other people are doing it.
Q. Can I wear a costume to the mob?
A. Please don’t.
Q. If I am a reporter, can I write about the mob? I
am aware that many articles have already been written
about the mob, and yet I feel that the world needs
another.
A. Feel free to write about the mob. Press builds the
mob, and anything that builds the mob is pro-mob.
Q. Does the Mob Project take requests?
A. The Mob Project will take precisely one request.
Write an email describing your dream mob and send it,
under the subject heading “My Dream Mob,” to
mydreammob@yahoo.com. Entries must be received by
August 15th. The winning entry will be used as the
basis for a future mob. (Note: New York City ideas
only.)
Q. The last mob didn’t have enough spectators. I want
to be seen whilst I mob.
A. Alright, then.
INSTRUCTIONS – MOB #6
Start time: Thursday, August 7th, 7:18 pm
(1) At some point during the day on August 7th,
synchronize your watch to
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java/java.
(If that site doesn’t work for you, try
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5.)
(2) By 7 PM, based on the month of your birth, please
situate yourselves in the bars below. Buy a drink and
act casual. NOTE: 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: Hamburger Harry’s, 145
W. 45th St. (just east of Broadway). Meet by the bar.
April, May, June: Connolly’s Pub, 121 W. 45th St.
(between 6th Ave. & Broadway). Meet in the back, by
the window to the kitchen.
July, August, September: Charley O’s, 218 W. 45
St. (just west of Broadway). Meet by the bar.
October, November, December: Howard Johnson’s,
1551 Broadway (at 46th St.). Meet in the back to the
left, by the bar.
(3) Then or soon thereafter, a MOB representative will
appear in the bar and will pass around further
instructions.
(4) In particular, the instructions will specify when
to disperse. Make sure that two minutes after the
specified time, you are no longer at the mob site. The
instructions will also specify a short window of time
–two to three minutes–when we ask that you not take
photographs of the mob, or interview participants or
bystanders.
(5) After the mob, return to what you otherwise would
have been doing. Await instructions for MOB #7.
WHAT’S A HUMAN LIFE WORTH?
Would you want to get a slightly nicer stereo, if it meant that someone you never met on the other side of the world would have to die?
But my pal Manny F. points out that that’s exactly what you are doing when you get a slightly nicer stereo, instead of giving the money to charity.
This came up, because I said I was fixing to get an HDTV converter for my HDTV ready television. So, I told him that, if I got one, then whatever I pay for it, I’ll pay that same amount to whatever charity he names for providing food or medical care to starving people in a third-world nation. He seemed stunned and a little upset that his comment had had that effect on me, and felt guilty about depriving me of that money. I think it may have been especially troubling for him because he spends about $20,000 a year on camera equipment for his photography hobby. This conversation took place last night at Manny’s birthday party. For his birthday, I got him a bunch of nice frames for some of his photographs.
THE BEST OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD.
Happy Anniversary, The Official Record! That’s right– I started this blog on July 31, 2002– a year ago today. Where does the time go? Anyway, to “celebrate,” here are some of my favorite articles from the past year. My five very, very favorites are marked with an asterisk (*) and described in red.
A CRAZY MCDONALD’S COMMERCIAL. (Wednesday, August 07, 2002).
A particular McDonald’s commercial blatantly encourages over-eating.
SAD CLOWN. (Tuesday, August 13, 2002).
A sketch I drew that I liked and scanned in.
SEX IS OVERRATED. (Friday, August 30, 2002).
A convincing logical proof of same.
*WHAT IS REAL? (A POEM BY ME). (Friday, August 30, 2002).
Surreal poetry.
HAIKU (PLURAL). (Friday, September 06, 2002).
Some funny Haiku I wrote.
GROUND ZERO. (Wednesday, September 11, 2002)
Reflections on the anniversary of 9/11, and a link to some amazing pictures.
*BOOK REVIEW: SLANDER: LIBERAL LIES ABOUT THE AMERICAN RIGHT (2002) no stars (0 stars out of 4). (Monday, September 16, 2002).
This scathing review of Ann Coulter’s miserable screed was, until this month, the most viewed and linked-to article I’d written, by far, and I still get several hits to it a week.
AN ARM OR A LEG? (Friday, September 27, 2002).
Which would you rather lose, and other tough choices.
“TOBACCO IS WHACKO … IF YOU’RE A TEEN”, IS, ITSELF, WHACKO. (Wednesday, October 23, 2002).
Being about a very annoying ad campaign that is obviously designed to actually increase teen smoking.
UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR. (Tuesday, November 12, 2002).
Here’s how to build one of the greatest inventions in human history, but nobody’s built it yet.
HOW FORTUNATE. (Sunday, December 29, 2002).
How to make a really funny fortune teller
NEW FORMULA, SAME GREAT CONVERSION. (Tuesday, January 14, 2003).
A remarkably easy way to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit in your head.
REVIEW OF REVIEWS. (Friday, January 31, 2003).
A summary of all my reviews up to that point, with links thereto.
EXACTLY WHAT’S WRONG WITH TELEVISION. (Tuesday, February 04, 2003).
I really think I’ve put my finger on it.
THE STORM OF THE CENTURY (SO FAR). (Tuesday, February 18, 2003).
The opposite of journalism.
*“PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT” JUST JUMPED THE SHARK. (Thursday, February 27, 2003).
A blistering attack on those who oppose the New York City smoking ban.
LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING. (Monday, March 03, 2003).
Maybe this is a little pedantic.
TOUGH CROWD. (Wednesday, March 19, 2003).
In which I roast my parents.
“HE MURDERS HIS OWN PEOPLE.” (Thursday, March 20, 2003).
Eerie parallels between the unelected rulers of Iraq and the United States.
LET’S GO TEAM! (Friday, March 21, 2003).
A great and simple way to improve television sports broadcasts.
ON THE HOMEFRONT LINES. (Wednesday, March 26, 2003).
Why did the media completely ignore this explosion in Times Square?
GOTCHA! (Tuesday, April 01, 2003).
A successful April Fool’s Day prank.
SEIZING THE MIDDLE GROUND IN THE ABORTION DEBATE. (Friday, April 04, 2003).
You can (and, I think, ought to be) both pro-life and pro-choice.
AL JAZEERA IS VERY BIASED. BUT NOT AS BIASED AS THE U.S. MEDIA. (Monday, April 07, 2003).
This media criticism article was linked to by FAIR.
I’M BEGGING YOU. (Friday, April 18, 2003).
Chronicling the mis-use of the phrase “begging the question”.
FREEDOM WHINE. (Friday, April 18, 2003)
A funny slip of the tongue.
REALITY BITES. (Saturday, April 19, 2003).
My twisted idea for a reality show.
DON’T USE A CONDOM. UM, UNLESS YOU HAVE SEX. (Wednesday, April 23, 2003).
Somehow I managed to convince myself that I could convince religious conservatives to endorse condom usage.
CRISIS = DANGER + OPPORTUNITY. (Sunday, June 08, 2003).
In which I refute the wisdom of the Orient.
NOW WHERE DID I PUT MY PUBLISHER’S NUMBER? (Thursday, June 19, 2003).
An interesting book idea.
HOW I INVITED SOME FRIENDS TO VISIT ME: (Friday, June 20, 2003).
The invitation does include a couple disclaimers.
*THE BEST YOU CAN HOPE FOR. (Thursday, June 26, 2003).
An extremely depressing look at what’s in store for all of us.
*FROM THE SPRING 1897 SEARS CATALOG, PAGE 176: (Sunday, July 13, 2003).
So many people told me they thought this was real, but I actually made it up– “The Auto-Matic Praying Machine”.
FLASHMOB #4: THE MOVIE. (Friday, July 18, 2003).
A video recording I made of a recent Flash Mob.
THE END IS NIGH. (Friday, July 25, 2003).
Why many people believe that the world will end on December 21, 2012.
THE BEST OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD. (Thursday, July 31, 2003).
This article which you are reading right now.
BOOK REVIEW: TREASON (2003) 1/2 (half a star out of 4).
Although occasionally entertaining, Coulter’s latest tirade is as inaccurate as her last book, as is well-documented throughout the Web. Here’s a nice site that discusses many of the outright lies in her book, and I recommend checking that out.
It’s fitting that she spends about half the book defending McCarthyism. Absurdly, she defends it by insisting that, at the time, the threat of communism was real, as though that were widely disputed by Americans. But while it’s easy to see now that the threat of communism was exaggerated at the time, nobody criticized McCarthy for attacking an imaginary opponent. The only complaint against McCarthyism that I’ve ever heard is that the mere accusation of communism was enough to destroy a persons life or career, without the necessity of a conviction. This point, which to me is the essence of McCarthyism, is undisputed by Coulter. Rather, she concedes it, sarcasticly lamenting the people who had to flee the country after they were falsely accused of communism, saying how nice it is to live in Europe.
And, of course, Coulter is engaged in a witch-hunt of her own, falsely accusing her political enemies of treason. She seems to have just two tricks up her sleeves to defend her indefensible position. The first is the double-standard. Thus, when conservatives argue against liberal Presidents, that proves that the liberal President is a traitor on account of the veracity of those criticisms. But when Liberals argue against conservatives, that demonstrates that those liberals are traitors, on account of their opposition to the leaders of their own country. When a single historian or journalist makes a point favorable to Coulter’s position, that proves Coulter’s position. But when historians and journalists universally make a point unfavorable to Coulter’s position, that is proof of the liberal bias of historians and journalists.
Coulter’s other trick is to argue against a straw man. She takes the most outlandish position ever stated by anyone who Coulter decides is liberal, and declares it the mainstream liberal position. She takes two different, inconsistent views, held by two different people who she’s decided are liberal, and then claims that this proves that the liberal position is inconsistent. She takes a single example of a liberal doing something bad and says that it proves that all liberals do this bad thing. And when she can’t find even one liberal to argue for a position, she just makes it up. Over and over, she tells us that the liberals’ true motives for taking a position are different from their stated motives, or what liberals would say about some hypothetical situation.
Oh, and here’s a great quote that, perhaps, tells us a little about Coulter’s true motives for innocently taking some of the positions she’s taken. She says of all the foreigners who are more afraid of American aggression than they are of the terrorists, “They hate us? We hate them. Americans don’t want to make Islamic fanatics love us. We want to make them die. There’s nothing like horrendous physical pain to quell anger. Japanese Kamikazes pilots hated us once, too. A couple of well-aimed nuclear weapons got their attention. Now they are gentle little lambs.” (page 230).
In short, either Coulter is joking or she is a joke. Either way, she is impossible to take seriously.
BOOK REVIEW: PLAYER PIANO (1952) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
Kurt Vonnegut’s First Novel is remarkably prescient. He anticipates the information revolution almost precisely asking the exact same challenging questions that we are asking today about our loss of privacy because so much of our personal information is stored in the global computer network. The writing style is also far ahead of its time. It doesn’t have Vonnegut’s distinctive staccato style, but it does sound like it was written very recently, instead of more than fifty years ago. Unfortunately, there really isn’t very much to the actual story itself of the protagonist’s struggle to regain his individuality.
BOOK REVIEW: DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM (2003) * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
This was three stories in one. The first was the story of where technology is headed. This part of the book is fascinating and thought provoking, even if some of the philosophical implications are dismissed too quickly. The second story is just a long-winded, fawning tribute to the Magic Kingdom. I like Disney World as much as anybody, but this just went on much too long without any real point. Finally it is a murder-mystery. While there is a bit of a clever twist here, it is extremely contrived and difficult to follow, and ultimately unsatisfying.
MORE ABOUT FLASH MOBS #4 and #5.
Here are nice accounts of Flash Mob #4 and Flash Mob #5 by my friend Jessica D., with whom I attended the events.
AUDIO OF FLASH MOB #5.
In keeping with the Internet’s largely unrealized promise of truly a multi-media experience, here’s an audio recording of flash mob #5. The invitation exhorted not to use cameras, and I wanted to respect that request, so I put my video camera in my bag and just recorded this audio program. You can hear the bag rustling a bit, for which I apologize.
My personal account of the event is just a few articles before this one.
THE END IS NIGH.
I was recently reminded about an interesting prediction that the world would end on December 21, 2012, which is just the sort of thing I would have blogged at the time I heard it, if I’d had a blog.
Basically, the deal as I understand it is supposed to be this.
First, civilization is becoming more advanced. And the rate at which civilization is becoming more advanced is increasing. And the rate at which the rate at which civilization is becoming more advanced is also increasing. If you graph the advancement of civilization over time, it is a curve getting steeper and steeper, until it goes practically straight up and down on December 21, 2012. There’s no more curve after that day.
Second, the ancient Mayan calendar, created millennia ago, just happens to run our of dates on the day we call December 21, 2012.
Finally, that day happens to be the winter solstice, as well as the day our sun passes through the equator of the Milky Way, as well as a day when there will be a solar eclipse (visible in Australia).
I think the most difficult part of this to understand is how the advancement of civilization can become infinite. This page touches on that, but doesn’t really address it. The first major advancement in civilization was the agricultural revolution (i.e., farming), 30,000 years ago. The second was the industrial revolution (i.e., mass production), 350 years ago. The third was the information revolution (i.e., computers), 50 years ago. According to the graph, there will be 61 more equally significant revolutions between now and December 21, 2012, with 18 of them happening that day, and 13 of those in the last second before the singularity.
How could that happen? Consider that the advancements of the industrial revolution greatly simplified the manufacture of computers, the creation of which would have seemed inconceivable without those advances in manufacturing. The next revolution will surely be something that would have been inconceivable without computers. In other words, machines did most of the work of building the computers, and computers will do most of the work of designing and building the next thing. And that thing will do most of the work of conceiving of, designing, and building the next thing. And that thing is going to really take off on its own with building the next revolution. By 2012, if the theory holds, something 47 revolutions past computers, which is only 2 revolutions past farming, is going to, all by itself, in a fraction of a second, create the next major revolution of society, which will, by itself, create the next one, and so on.
Under the graph, after the thirteenth revolution in a single second occurs, the singularity happens, and there will be an infinite number of advancements before the end of the following second, because each revolution will create the next revolution in less and less time. Even if this happens, this does not, per se, mean that the world will end in that second, but what will the next second be like? What will the next day be like? What will things be like a week or a year or a decade later?
There are an enormous number of resources about this stuff on the Web, many of which should not be trusted. An impressive collection is located at All About 2012, which is very poorly designed.
ME IN THE NEWS.
An Orlando Sentinal article about flash mobs ran Thursday (without referring to me), and a Boston Globe article about flash mobs runs Friday, quoting me:
“‘I guess it’s hard to see the point,’ said David Danzig, 32, who has attended the last three flash mobs in New York. ‘For me, that’s a reason to keep going and to try and figure out the point. It’s art.'”
MOB #5.
I went to Mob #5 this afternoon. After getting to the appropriate bar for my birthday, I received this information, which included a small map of the area:
—
*** MOB #5 ***
THE SITE:
Central Park — near 81st & Central Park West. Enter between 80th and 81st, across from the museum [of Natural History]. Make your first hard left, merge with another path, then turn left again. Walk to the right in front of the ridge and face CPW [Central Park West].
START TIME: 7:18. DURATION: 8 minutes. Disperse at 7:26: no one should remain at the mob site after 7:28.
Stand still and stare straight forward. For the first three minutes, make as little noise as possible. If you can make a realistic bird call, you may occasionally do so.
By 7:21, you may all make bird calls, unrealistic or no.
By 7:23, you may also mumble, “bird noise.”
By 7:25, you may also call out, “Nature here! Come get some nature!” to passersby.
At 7:26, chant “Na-ture” for 20 seconds; cheer, and disperse.
Please do not take photographs at the mob site until 7:23.
Please do not interview anyone at the mob site until 7:26.
—
So, that sounds pretty clever on paper, I think, right? But in practice, it was a little disappointing, I thought. In the first place, there were very few passersby, and the vast majority of people on the street were filming the mob, which was pretty awkward and silly (but not in a good way), I thought. In the second place, people did not follow the directions very well, and the mob was not in synch, and almost all of the stuff we’d been instructed to do from 7:23 to 7:26 got skipped. I guess that’s no big deal, and it is, after all, the raison d’être of a mob to be unruly. But, I don’t know. It felt a little hollow for things not to go off as planned, in front of almost no audience. It felt a little like the joke was on us, instead of on them.
I have an audio recording of the event, which I will upload as soon as possible. I made it using my video camera, with the lens cap on, in a bag, and I’m not 100% sure how to separate the audio from that, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Check my more recent entries (above) to see if I have.
OR MAYBE NOT.
I didn’t see articles in the Globe or the Orlando Sentinel yesterday, after all.
FLASHMOBBING IS ABOUT TO GET MAINSTREAM.
The flash mobbing story, broken by us bloggers, is quickly becoming a big mainstream story.
Last week saw articles about the flash mob phenomenon in the Chicago Tribune, and on MSNBC‘s and the BBC‘s Web sites (all of which either quoted me or cited this blog or both).
Yesterday there was a feature article in the New York Post. Today ran a story (in which I was extensively quoted) in the Dallas Morning News.
Tomorrow I happen to know that a story is running in the Orlando Sentinel and in the Boston Globe, probably on the front page, and probably quoting me.
So, yesterday, today and tomorrow, that’s The New York Post, the front page of the Dallas Morning News, and (probably) the front page of the Boston Globe. This story is about to go international.
I also lent my videotape of flash mob #4 to a reporter from Inside Edition who tracked me down through my work (Charge.Com, Inc., which was mentioned in the BBC article), and asked me for it, so they may do something with that.
Oh, and incidentally, I first brought flash mobbing to the attention of Sean S. of cheesebikini.com, who, in turn, widely publicized the phenomenon to the world and coined the term “flash mob,” which seems to be the most popular term for the phenomenon.
What a silly waste of time.
FLASHMOB #5.
Here’s a copy of an invitation to the next flashmob. All are invited.
—
You are invited to take part in MOB, the project that
creates an inexplicable mob of people in New York City
for ten minutes or less. Please forward this to other
people you know who might like to join.
FAQ
Q. Can there be more photographers at the next mob?
A. There seemed to be plenty at MOB #4.
Q. I was being sarcastic.
A. “Sarcastic”…?
Q. Meaning that my real question is the EXACT
OPPOSITE of that question. Can there be *fewer*
photographers at the next mob?
A. In general, people should feel free to take
photographs at the mob. But at certain times in
certain mobs, photography dampens the effect. From now
on, the instruction slips for each mob will specify
when and where NOT to take photographs during that
mob.
Q. OK. Hey, how about an uptown mob?
A. Are you being “sarcastic” again?
Q. No.
A. Well, then: sure.
INSTRUCTIONS – MOB #5
Start time: Thursday, July 24th, sometime after 7:15pm
Duration: 10 minutes or less
(1) At some point during the day on July 24th,
synchronize your watch to
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java/java.
(If that site doesn’t work for you, try
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5.)
(2) By 6:55 PM, based on the month of your birth,
please situate yourselves in the bars below. Buy a
drink and act casual. NOTE: 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: Dublin House, 225 W.
79th St. (just east of Broadway). Meet in the back by
the jukebox.
April, May, June: McAleer’s, 425 Amsterdam Ave.
(between 80th and 81st). Meet in the back, by the
enormous television set.
July, August, September: Bourbon Street, 407
Amsterdam Ave. (between 79th and 80th). Meet in the
back, by the even more enormous television set.
October, November, December: 420 Bar and Lounge,
420 Amsterdam Ave. (at 80th St.). Meet in the back,
near the constrained tree.
(3) Then or soon thereafter, a MOB representative will
appear in the bar and pass around further
instructions. The instructions will specify the mob
site, the start time, and the duration. The
instructions will give you what you need and then
some.
(4) In particular, the instructions will tell you when
to disperse. Make sure that two minutes after the
specified time, you are no longer at the mob site.
(5) Return to what you otherwise would have been
doing, and await instructions for MOB #6.
MORE PRESS FOR ME.
I am quoted on the front page of today’s Dallas Morning News, concerning flashmobbing.
In relevant part:
“Not even participants such as 32-year-old David Danzig really understand the allure of flash mobbing. ‘It’s interesting and fun,’ he says. ‘I’m not sure I saw any point to it, really. It’s just the nonsensical nature and silliness of it all.'”
. . .
“The New York flash mobs have grown steadily in size. ‘I think they’re just going to get bigger with more press,’ says Mr. Danzig. ‘There’s nothing stopping it.'”
AND I’M OFF.
I’m off to San Francisco for the weekend, with my family. I’ll be back Monday night.
THE OFFICIAL RECORD IN THE NEWS.
MSNBC links to The Official Record in a story about flashmobbing.
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