OT: 6/11 Flash Mob Against BP
Oil Over the Bridge
BP Black Friday Flash Mob
Friday 06/11/10 @ 12:11 pm (Rain or Shine!)
Millennium Park Chicago
Bring a black umbrella. If you don't have a black umbrella, wear all black.
12:11 pm: Casually converge on the BP Pedestrian Bridge
12:20 pm: When the whistle blows, we will generate a visual representation of the oil slick seen from above by filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge.
Starting from the middle of the bridge over Columbus Drive, open your umbrella and squat or sit down, covering as much space with your umbrella or body as possible.
Sit close enough to the people around you to create a canopy of umbrellas and bodies.
Please do not: shout, carry signs,confront patrons of Millennium Park, damage property, or otherwise break any laws.
This flash mob is a silent protest intended to bring together a community of concerned citizens in creating a living illustration of the damage that threatens the collective health of our planet.
The intent is not to block the bridge, nor to damage it, but to join together in a lively way to make a statement: swift action must be taken before more of our world is destroyed by oil.
12:35 pm: When the whistle blows a second time, quickly and calmly collect yourself and disperse. Please do not linger any longer than necessary.
Don't forget to greet your neighbors: introduce yourself, make new friends. A key objective for this action is to have fun!
If anyone asks what is going on or what you are doing, we suggest simply stating, "The oil flow must be stopped."
Views: 52
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John on
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OT comments:
Broadcasting something in advance with detailed directions makes it the opposite of a flash mob.
"filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge" and "create a canopy of umbrellas and bodies" makes "The intent is not to block the bridge" nothing more than a useless, butt-covering disclaimer at best.
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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on
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I see it as more of a massive contradiction.
John said:OT comments:
Broadcasting something in advance with detailed directions makes it the opposite of a flash mob.
"filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge" and "create a canopy of umbrellas and bodies" makes "The intent is not to block the bridge" nothing more than a useless, butt-covering disclaimer at best.
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Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on
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John, Flash Mobs started as viral email chains back in the day and this one reads pretty much exactly like any other email flash mob. So it IS a flash mob because it's being distributed in a decentralized manner with very little leadership. I received this through the mail and I passed it on which I have done before for countless other flash mobs.
As far as blocking the bridge goes. If it gets to the size where it will block public way then awesome but I doubt it will. Besides it's not illegal to fill up a pedestrian bridge like it would be a road. This isn't like blocking car traffic or something. Anyone who will get butt-hurt about this is way to sensitive. : P
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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on
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Clark said:Am I wrong to detect some kind of "critical mass" thinking here? If so, you're appealing to the right group. Are you planning on registering the event at flashmob.com?
Huh? What does this mean?
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Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:I see it as more of a massive contradiction.
John said:OT comments:
Broadcasting something in advance with detailed directions makes it the opposite of a flash mob. "filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge" and "create a canopy of umbrellas and bodies" makes "The intent is not to block the bridge" nothing more than a useless, butt-covering disclaimer at best.
My initial thought was also that this is not a flash mob.
As to contradictions:
A key objective for this action is to have fun!
You know, what can be more fun than getting together to protest environmental destruction on a massive scale.
I'm glad to see our oil addiction has opened up some social and recreational avenues.
Next week: pizza party at Chuck E Cheese to protest BP.
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It could very loosely fit some Critical Mass ride somewhere, but would only apply to Chicago Critical Mass if you discounted thousands of hours of investment and thousands of doillars of out of pocket contributions on the part of its stewards to build it over the years. And pretended that most people participate in Critical Mass because they like the idea of spontaneous 'mob' action rather than seeing it as being about promoting the bicycle in some way. Spencer doesn't come to CCM from the angle of bicycle advocacy-- he sees it as a relatively purposeless effort waiting to be tapped into to energize other causes. Don't make the same mistake/.
(PS you've ridden on Chicago Critical Mass, right? I'm not sure how you could think this definition applies?)
Clark said:H3N3 said:
Huh? What does this mean?
Only that, like CM, a Flashmob is generally leaderless, inspirational, whimsical...and means different things to different people. Not sure its a fully-defined term -- for instance the Urban Dictionary has five attempts to define it, the most popular is:
...A group of people who appear from out of nowhere, to perform predetermined actions, designed to amuse and confuse surrounding people. The group performs these actions for a short amount of time before quickly dispersing. Flash mobs are often organised through email and/or newsgroup postings...
Wouldn't that definition also fit a Mass?
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Spencer doesn't come to CCM from the angle of bicycle advocacy-- he sees it as a relatively purposeless effort waiting to be tapped into to energize other causes. Don't make the same mistake
Hmm... I guess that's true but you just make it sound so dirty. ; ) It would be more accurate to say that I think CCM is the bees knees.
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Howard, you gonna bring an umbrella to the Bridge this Friday?
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I might, if I worked downtown, and I decided on Friday that I wasn't too turned off by the presentation of an action supposedly to make a statement about a disgusting, sweeping environmental tragedy as having a goal of "having fun."
Did you personally author the OP?
Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! said:Howard, you gonna bring an umbrella to the Bridge this Friday?
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Permalink Reply by Shawn C. on
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Will this be negatively affected by the Black Hawks parade or enhanced?
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Or will this negatively affect the Blackhaws parade?
Shawn C. said:Will this be negatively affected by the Black Hawks parade or enhanced?
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