---------- forwarded message ----------
date: mon, 16 jun 2003 15:56:33 -0000


mob #1 made national public radio! go to http://www.nextbigthing.org and scroll down to the last clip.
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.
at the very least, please forward this to all those to whom you sent the invitation for mob #1, because someone seems to have gotten the wrong impression
about the mob. i am thinking, in particular, of whoever saw it necessary to tell the store and/or the police department about mob #1, causing six police officers and a paddywagon to be sent out to disrupt it. let us call this person "squealy."
squealy faq (all others may skip to instructions - mob #2)

q: i am uncomfortable with innocent fun.
a. it seems apparent.
q. couldn't the mob have gotten out of hand?
a. no. i assure you: the mob will always be respectful, no matter how large it gets, or what it might chant, etc.
q. despite this honest assurance, my stifling fear of the unknown dictates that i squeal again.
a. unfortunately, i have been forced to take this possibility into account in the
instructions for mob #2.

instructions - mob #2
location: ???????
start time: tuesday, june 17th, 7:27 pm
duration: 10 minutes

(1)at some point during the day on june 17th, 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: blarney rock, 137 w. 33rd st. (between 6th and 7th aves.) meet to the left of the jukebox.
april, may, june: holiday inn, 49 w. 32nd st.
(just east of broadway). walk into the hotel lobby and make a left into the hotel bar; meet around the bar to the right, near the framed prints of the elephant and the leopard.
july, august, september: blarney stone (not to be confused with blarney rock), 106 w. 32nd st.(between 6th and 7th aves.). meet in the back by the jukebox.
october, november, december: jack demsey's, 36 w. 33rd st. (between broadway and 5th ave.) meet downstairs, near the bar behind the pool table.

(3) then or soon thereafter, a mob representative will appear in the bar, wearing one of the "trucker hats" that is so stylish these days. he or she will pass around slips of paper, on which three important pieces of information will be printed: (a) the mob site, (b) a particular item at the site, and (c) a secret
phrase. commit all three 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 as quickly as possible. it will take you longer to get there than you think. if you arrive near the final mob destination before 7:27, stall nearby. no one should arrive at the final mob destination until 7:26.

(5) find the item and stand around it. unlike in mob #1, where the participants were not to acknowledge one another, here you should greet even those you do not know. talk among yourselves about the item and its relative merits and demerits. only if you are blocked from seeing the item should you stray to examine other merchandise at the site.

(6) if you are approached by a salesperson, explain that everyone present lives together, in a huge converted warehouse in long island city, and that you
are there looking for a "[secret phrase]." explain that you make all purchases as a group.

(7) at 7:37 you should disperse. thank the salespeople for their help, but explain that the item has been "voted down." no one should remain at the mob site after 7:39.

(8) return to what you would otherwise have been doing. await instructions for mob #3. special note: a few people may be allowed to learn the three secret facts in advance. those interested should write an essay of precisely 50 words on the subject of "why i am not a squealer," and send it to themobproject@yahoo.com.

matti odottaa jonossa juna-asemalla. h�nell� on viisi matka-laukkua. matti haluaa ostaa lipun tamperelle. juna l�htee puoli seitsem�n, nyt kello 10 kymmenen vaille kuusi. joken h�n menee ravintolaan koska h�nell� on n�lk�. ravintolassa h�n sy� suklaakukkua ja juo kahvia. h�n n�kee kellon sein�ll�, se on melkein puoli seitsem�n. h�n juoksee laiturille, mutta junan menee pois. h�n itkee koska my�h�styy.

dee here. man, min� en tule ilosaariin. anteeksi. koska minulla on kaverit islannista ja irlannista tulevat suomeen. h�r�ur ja anna tulevat kolmas hein�kuuta l�htev�t kymmenes hein�kuuta. natalie ja paul tulevat kahdeskymmeneskolmas ja menev�t kahdeskymmenesknhdeks�s. minun ensiminnen p�iv� level kolme suomea kieli on kahdeskymmenesknhdeks�s. minulla ei ole rahaa. anteeksi harrin8tor. menemme saunaan kun h�rdie tulee!

dw

ali landry (�repli-kate,� �who�s your daddy?�) becomes host of the new edition of the extreme covert-camera comedy series, which takes hidden-camera comedy to the next level by putting everyday people in extreme situations and recording their uncensored and unpredictable reactions. in its second season, the half-hour long �spy tv� cranks up the excitement, boasting not only a hot new host and a studio audience, but all new pranks that continue to prove that people�s spontaneous reactions in extreme situations are wilder, wackier and funnier than anything that could ever be scripted.

11.00
ferry departs to s�rkk� island from ullanlinna jetty in kaivopuistonranta

11.15
a finnish brunch

12 - 13.30
the future of copyrighted media
jim griffin
jc herz - eric wahlforss
hosted by marko ahtisaari

(break)

14 - 15.30
riding the wave of personal publishing
dan gillmor
matt jones - tom coates
hosted by alex nieminen

(break)

16 - 17.30
creating celebrity, protecting privacy
joichi ito
kim weckstr�m - azeem azhar
hosted by jyri engestr�m

17.30
closing remarks
cory doctorow

18.00
dinner

22.00
last ferry departs from s�rkk� to ullanlinna

your existing situation
unable to exert the efforts to achieve his objectives. feels neglected, desiring greater security, warm affection, and fewer problems.

your stress sources
seeks independence and freedom from any restriction and therefore avoids obligations or anything which might prove hampering. he is being subjected to considerable pressure and wants to escape from it so that he can obtain what he needs, but tends to lack the necessary strength of purpose to succeed in this.

your restrained characteristics
clings to his belief that his hopes and ideas are realistic, but needs encouragement and reassurance. applies very exacting standards to his choice of a partner and wants guarantees against loss or disappointment. feels rather isolated and alone, but is too reserved to allow himself to form deep attachments. egocentric and therefore quick to take offense.

your desired objective
intense, vital, and animated, taking a delight in action. activity is directed towards success or conquest and there is a desire to live life to the fullest.

your actual problem
the tensions induced by trying to cope with conditions which are really beyond his capabilities, or his reserves of strength, have led to considerable anxiety and a sense of personal (but unadmitted) inadequacy. he attempts to remedy this by intense activity and by insistence on getting his own way. faulty self-control can lead to ungovernable displays of anger.

your actual problem #2
fights against restriction or limitation, and insists on developing freely as a result of his own efforts.

your existing situation
avoids excessive effort and needs roots, security, and peaceful companionship.

your stress sources
wishes to be independent, unhampered, and free from any limitation or restriction, other than those which he imposes of himself or by his own choice and decision.

your restrained characteristics
the situation is preventing him from establishing himself, but he feels he must make the best of things as they are.wants to broaden his fields of activity and insists that his hopes and ideas are realistic. distressed by the fear that he may be prevented from doing what he wants; needs both peaceful conditions and quiet reassurance to restore his confidence.

your desired objective
fascinated by the idea of an idealized association of tenderness and mutual enchantment. embarrassed by the thought of allowing this to appear openly, and so employs cautious exploratory tactics in the pursuit of this objective, making sure that he is neither irrevocably committed nor found out.

your actual problem
fears that his independence will be threatened or severely restricted unless he protects himself from outside influence. does not want to be bothered.

flex is a deliberately aggressive piece of film-making. cunningham's aim is to attack the senses with a physical intensity using film and music. the soundtrack for flex was composed by richard james of aphex twin. flex's inspiration comes partly from the superhero cartoon imagery, particulary the idealised bodies with their surreal muscles. the film shows cunningham's varied interests in animation, in renaissance drawings - particularly those of michelangelo - and in the symbolism of the pre-raphaelites.

maurizio cattelan's joke sculpture of the pope, a life-size and realistic sculpture of the pontiff floored by a meteor that appears to have crashed through the glass roof of the gallery, may be found offensive. this act of cattelan - not god, nor an indifferent universe - is no more troubling, nor funnier, than many of the cartoons one finds in newspapers in catholic countries. impeccably staged, it presents a very old kind of apocalyptic vision - of horsemen and fires in the sky, heavenly portents and divine retribution - that we might have thought had disappeared. yet only this week a liberal democrat was promoting a star wars offensive against falling rocks and cosmic debris. plus ça change - cattelan's work is a see-once-then-forget-it gag. that so much effort has gone into it renders it monumentally absurd.