|
|
|
Prank you very much By Randy A. Salas
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) A recent stunt to "hack" the Super Bowl got this column going on people who stage pranks and then chronicle their exploits online. It's funny stuff — as long as you're not the ones being pranked. (Do keep in mind that some prank sites include profanity and adult situations.)www.zug.comJohn Hargrave, author of "Prank the Monkey," claims to have pulled off one of the biggest stunts of all time: crashing the recent Super Bowl in Miami. I use the word "claims," because Hargave's prank site, Zug, has a few articles relishing instances when its pranksters have fooled the media with hoaxes — such as getting news outlets to repeat a rumor that "American Idol" wannabe William Hung had died of a drug overdose. (He obviously hasn't.) Hargrave has been recounting his Super Bowl stunt in a six-part series that concludes today on Zug. So far, he has explained how he came up with an idea to distribute 2,350 lights to fans at the NFL's big game under the pretense that they would be spelling out "PRINCE" while the singer performed at halftime. In reality, they would be creating a secret message for all the world to see during the show, a big-league joke costing him a reported $40,000. I called Hargrave to find out if he really pulled off the stunt, no small feat considering security at the Super Bowl. He assured me that he and his cohorts did and that the media would be all over it once someone figures out the secret message after his final chapter goes online today. So far, I'm the only member of the media all over this scoop. I just don't know what it is. He did ask during the phone call if I could please mention his new book, "Prank the Monkey." Ah, so that's it: He recounts a supposed publicity stunt just to see if he can get his new book, "Prank the Monkey," mentioned in a major daily newspaper. As if I'm going to fall for that.www.improveverywhere.comPerhaps you remember Charlie Todd and his Improv Anywhere accomplices from their brilliant Best Buy stunt last year — in which dozens of ordinary people wearing blue polo shirts walked into the electronics superstore and, if asked, helped customers, much to the dismay of managers. Their latest stunt harked back to tradition: the site's annual No Pants Subway Ride. This year, on Jan. 13, about 300 people rode the New York City subway without pants, all acting as if that were a perfectly normal thing to do. "We're out to prove that a prank doesn't have to involve humiliation or embarrassment," the site explains. "It can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them." Mission accomplished.www.startribune.com/a2298Scott Ableman's gallery on the photo-sharing site Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/ableman) marks the occasion when he and his InPhonic co-workers covered their colleague Walt's Jaguar from bumper to bumper with Post-it notes in October. I think Walt got the message.hacks.mit.eduThe MIT Hack Gallery provides visual evidence of the many times when the university's students have hacked, or pulled a prank, on campus. Many stunts involve doing something to or on the impressive Great Dome, the roof of Building 10. For example, on Sept. 11, a 25-foot fire truck was covertly placed high atop the dome to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.www.museumofhoaxes.com/newsletter/nov2002.htmlSpeaking of campus shenanigans, the online Museum of Hoaxes offers its detailed list of "The Top 10 College Pranks of All Time." Topping the list is the Great Rose Bowl Hoax, which co-opted the big 1961 football game between the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and the University of Washington Huskies. Pranksters from Caltech, not too far from the stadium in Pasadena, Calif., raided the Huskies' halftime flip-card show and reworked it so that the crowd spelled out "CALTECH" during the live TV broadcast. Hey, maybe crashing a major football game isn't that hard after all. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Randy A. Salas is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Do you have a favorite Web site or a question about how to find something on the Internet? Send a note by clicking here.
How much is enough? © 2006, Star Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
