Tag Archives | Pranks

A Classic Prank From Edgar Allan Poe And Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

By on January 5, 2013 in News 2

Regardless of whether or not this actually happened, it would be great to attempt to device a 2013-appropriate version. io9 writes:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was supposedly the orchestrator of a cruel joke. One night, bored and idly toying with wicked thoughts, he decided to send a note to five of his friends. The note would be delivered anonymously. It would have no signature, and would contain no information. It would only say, “We are discovered. Flee!”

At his next dinner party, his social circle was abuzz with the sudden, and total, disappearance of one of the people he sent the notes to. The person was never heard from again.

But the story didn’t start or end with him. Edgar Allan Poe also was said to have done such a thing. He might even be said to be the better author to pair with the story, since he had more of a devilish sense of humor.

… Read the rest

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‘Surveillance Camera Man’ Trolls Seattle

By on November 6, 2012 in News 10

Pure obnoxiousness or consciousness-raising performance art? In a series of videos dubbed ‘Surveillance Camera Man,’ an unseen and anonymous individual strolls the streets of Seattle filming people with a camera for no apparent reason, eliciting furious responses. Is the goal to force us to acknowledge that we are constantly being surveilled in this very manner, although both the recording mechanisms and the persons on their opposite ends are typically concealed?

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Los Angeles Street Artist Trolls Entire City with Fake Plaques

By on September 24, 2012 in News 1

Via the LA Times:

Los Angeles street artist “Wild Life” transformed a number of the city’s banal eyesores into works of “art”:

Eight random areas of downtown L.A. have been marked with what appear to be official city plaques, offering elaborate background information about the dumpsters, city blocks, and signposts to which they are affixed, reports The Lost Angeles Times. The plaques are even equipped with faux-signatures from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch, and allude to A-list artists and directors like Yoko Ono, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Werner Herzog as alleged designers of the city’s downtown spots.

But the mysterious art project, which goes by the name of “Art Appears,” is really just a giant hoax. We hate to break it to you, but the dumpster on Traction Avenue was not designed by Andy Warhol. The so-called “Thirsty Palms” exhibit on 2nd Street? Not by Chris Burden, says Curbed LA.

… Read the rest

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Young Mitt Romney Would Impersonate A Police Officer And Pull People Over For Fun

By on July 12, 2012 in News 38

More creepy youthful “pranksterism” from a G.O.P. presidential candidate. Via Death and Taxes:

According to TV producer Robin Madden, a former friend of Romney during his time at Stanford:

“He told us that he had gotten the uniform from his father,” George Romney, then the Governor of Michigan, whose security detail was staffed by uniformed troopers. “He told us that he was using it to pull over drivers on the road. He also had a red flashing light that he would attach to the top of his white Rambler. We thought it was all pretty weird. We all thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty creepy.’ And after that, we didn’t have much interaction with him.”

In another story during Mitt’s high school days in Michigan, Mitt would pretend to pull his friends over while they were on dates.

Given the current climate of “being outraged over everything” it’s surprising, then, that nobody thinks it weird that the potential future president used to dress up like a police office and scare the shit out of people?

… Read the rest

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Secret Story of Mysterious Portrait at Pentagon

By on April 18, 2012 in News 3

Photo: Dept. of Defense

The Wall Street Journal‘s Adam Entous reveals a successful military prank:

In a Pentagon hallway hung an austere portrait of a Navy man lost at sea in 1908, with his brass buttons, blue-knit uniform and what looks like meticulously blow-dried hair.

Wait. Blow-dried hair?

The portrait of “Ensign Chuck Hord,” framed in the heavy gilt typical of government offices, may be the greatest—or perhaps only—prank in Pentagon art history. “Chuck Hord” can’t be found in Navy records of the day. It isn’t even a real painting. The textured, 30-year-old photo is actually of Capt. Eldridge Hord III, 53 years old, known to friends as “Tuck,” a military retiree with a beer belly and graying hair who lives in Burke, Va.

Most military officers who climb the ranks or command daring battles only dream of having a portrait hang in a corridor of power at the Pentagon alongside the likes of Patton, Nimitz and Eisenhower.

… Read the rest

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Do You Really Care If Anonymous Takes Down Facebook On Guy Fawkes Day?

By on November 4, 2011 in News 32

AnonymousThe amount of chatter on the Interwebs about the threatened takedown tomorrow suggests that we should care, but why? From CNET:

There are some people who believe that being without Facebook means being without themselves. These people are, therefore, shaking at their sinews this week, fearing Saturday’s potential disaster.

Perhaps you are suffering too severely from NBA withdrawal to remember that back in August a member (or not) of hacker collective Anonymous threatened to take down Facebook on Guy Fawkes Day, which happens to be Saturday.

Back then, Anonymous may (or may not) have disavowed this plan of action.

However, I might add to your deep-seated jitters when I tell you that the Twitter account of the anti-Facebook operation, @Op_Facebook, is very much active.

I wouldn’t even dream of deciphering whether covert messages might be passed within its tweets. There is certainly no obvious mention of a November 5 takedown.

… Read the rest

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