It's a new word, it's a noun, it's a verb...and it's a new web-inspired socio-cultural phenomenon. Here's a link to all the stories...London, New York, Denver...
http://makeashorterlink.com/?B1A031095Now to the most important question...who and/or what could AWADers flash mob, and what could we do?
Libraries and bookstores come to mind, but...
Oops! Bookstore's been done already...in Rome!
hi emanuela! 
>Europe's first "flash mob" hit Rome last month when a group thronged at a bookshop and peppered staff with queries about non-existent books. <
Flash mobs have also hit Japan.
I say we meet outside a library, each of us with a book in our hands (a lightweight one). Somebody produces a sheet; we grab the edges, put the books in the middle, toss them into the air, catch them, and then everybody grab one and depart.
I think we should nominate a publicly-located copy of the OED, say a library, and arrive to pay homage with offerings of obscure words on 3 x 5 cards.
I wonder what alien scientists aboard flying saucers would think after observing these apparently pointless activities?
alien scientists … apparently pointless activities
You mean as opposed to all the other apparently pointless activities we indulge in?
like what? do you mean cricket ?
Not meaning to pick anything in particular, but, yes, e.g., cricket.
I'll leave it as an exercise for the interested student to think of other examples.
Hi vika,
I very much agree with you. I hope the bookcrossing idea will spread at least half as fast as flash mobbing...
The urbis site is a steal from an older group that - as far as I know- started the idea.
Take a look at
http://www.bookcrossing.comI thought I had posted this site about a year ago when I discovered it, but my search revealed nada.
SighI have been doing it awhile. The manager at my local Shaw's market has been really good about letting me place books among the shelves and plants. I have been lax about recording the books - ah, well, even I am not perfect !
Actually, it seems to have been Ted; odd--my memory definitely associates it with Jo. Oh, well.
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=announcements&Number=85651
In email news from bookcrossing, received this today. Talk about timing!
got a call yesterday from Urbis, to let me know they are planning a large-scale book release in Manchester, England, this Saturday, August 16. Urbis is a "new kind of museum," set in a iconic shimmering skyscraper, and focuses on exhibits celebrating urban life in cities like Manchester, Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Paris and Tokyo.
According to their press release, Urbis will be releasing hundreds of books in locations across the city in shops, cafes, pubs, phone boxes, on park benches, at bus stops and in train stations. They will even be enlisting the help of cab drivers and train operators to move books beyond the city limits.
Scott Burnham, Urbis Creative Director said: "The beauty of Bookcrossing is that it's organic - this project will evolve and take on a life its own as books are passed on and on. Bookcrossing is about animating the city of Manchester with a unique collaboration between Urbis and an international project and giving everyone the opportunity to embark on a journey of discovery whether it's finding a book in a unique location, discovering its story or tracing the people who have read it before you."
the weekend australian calls us boobies
Last Saturday, BookCrossing was featured in The Weekend Australian, a large insert in one of Australia's most popular newspapers.
the weekend australian calls us boobies
What in the world does this line mean??
like what? do you mean cricket ?
I always thought weightlifting and stationary bikes were among those things that would be inexplicable to aliens freshly landed on earth.
Now to the most important question...who and/or what could AWADers flash mob?
We could all visit www.blanksite.com.
the weekend australian calls us boobies
Last Saturday, BookCrossing was featured in The Weekend Australian, a large insert in one of Australia's most popular newspapers.
I was hoping one of our Aussie pals would give us a link. Somehow I lost it! no surprise.
tsuwm, did you participate? :-)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-08-17-flash-mob-usat_x.htmEDIT: oops, WO'N--this article was in our paper today, but was written previously. Just realized it might well be in your original list--sorry.
Flash mobbing finally made it here over the weekend. A couple of hundred people wandered into a Burger King in Auckland, mooed at ever item on the menu, and left.
A couple of hundred people wandered into a Burger King in Auckland, mooed at ever item on the menu, and left.
Sounds more like a flash herd to me. [They didn't even stop to graze?]
No, they don't sell anything as nutritious as spam ...
Max, saw the news article and received half a dozen emails from NZers about the Burger King flashmob and laughed myself silly.
Most of them hadn't heard of flash mobbing. I felt soooooo superior. Gotta enjoy it, it's a rare feeling among that mob!
I was talking with some flks around here about flash mobbing one of our local "convenience" stores, Wawa, now expanded to include Super in its title (SuperWawa...more space and gas pumps, etc). "Wawa" is an old Lenni Lenape word for "goose" and the store uses a Canada goose on its logo. So we thought we might get a hundred or two folks to descend upon the busiest store and say, "We are geese" (or mebbe "where's the goose?") and start honking like a flock of migrating geese for about 10 minutes or so, onomatopoetically playing off the store's name of course, "wah-WAH! wah-WAH! wah-WAH!" ...etc. Whattiya think?
Ten minutes is way too long.
Yeah, mebbe 5 minutes would suffice. We could do it in concert like a flock of geese. Or mebbe we could have each person show up sporadically during the day and say, "Hey! I'm a goose!" and start "honking".
Hmmmm...
If anybody has any Wawas in their area and likes the idea, go for it!
dave i am with you on getting wawa ... but me and tom thought it would be funny to flash mob bill (aka bargin bill)and when he walks out of the bookstore to go to the bank as he does every morming we could have a crowd start cheering and follow him to the bank ... what do you think ?
thought it would be funny to flash mob bill (aka bargin bill)and when he walks out of the bookstore to go to the bank as he does every morming we could have a crowd start cheering and follow him to the bank ... Hey, dasrex, neat idea...flash mobbing people as well as places...I like it!
But I think you just opened up a whole new can of worms.
Which brings me to this;
Is a flasher a flash mob in progress?
