Category Archives: Fun

| Fun, Montreal, Photos

Last chance for fireworks tonight

Australian fireworks on July 4

Australian fireworks presentation on July 4

The annual fireworks festival has its closing ceremony tonight at 10 p.m., which will be your last chance to see these amazing shows until next summer.

As usual, the best (free) spot to view them is in the parking lot where René Lévesque and Notre Dame meet (Papineau metro). Be sure to bring a radio (105.7FM) to listen to the music that goes with the display.

You can see detailed reports and photos of the previous presentations at the fan site montreal-fireworks.com.

| Fun, Media, Montreal, Opinion, Slow News Day, Video

The Michael Jackson publicity stunt

Look, I don’t want to make it seem like I’m anti-fun or something, because I really do enjoy it when people just go out and do something silly, if only for a few minutes.

But when you have an event involving a professional dance troupe that you’ve publicized to the media, when you have dozens of journalists present, when police and a government minister are taking part, can you really call that a “flash mob“? If so, the term has lost all meaning and should cease to be used.

No wonder groups so associated with the term, like Improv Everywhere and Newmindspace, have rejected it. I think it’s time we all follow their lead if it’s going to be commercialized like this.

Call it a publicity stunt, call it a public performance, call it street art, but don’t call it a flash mob.

UPDATE (July 30): Similar thoughts from Patrick Dion, Jean-Philippe Rousseau and Le Détesteur, plus a defence from a participant.

| Fun, Montreal, Photos

They may take our lives, but they’ll never take OUR PILLOWS!

Rule No. 1 about outdoor pillow fights: don’t hold them in the rain.

Pillow fight

Rule No. 2: There are ways around Rule No. 1.

Despite the annoying showers, the planned Montreal event on World Pillow Fight Day took place as scheduled, with about 30 participants whacking each other over the head with bags of foam (feathered pillows were banned as they create a mess) for about half an hour.

Much of the success came from the quick-thinking of organizers Robin Friedman and Jody McIntyre (the same people behind metro parties, bubble battles and pretty much everything else fun in the city over the past couple of years). They brought along clear plastic bags for people to put their pillows in so they wouldn’t get wet.

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| Fun, Opinion

There’s no such thing as a flash mob

When I interviewed Newmindspace co-founder Kevin Bracken after Montreal’s first metro party in 2007, the Torontonian told me he hated the term “flash mob“, mainly because it was created in order to make fun of it.

After following various events that have been referred to as flash mobs in the media, it’s hard not to concur, if only because the term has been used to define almost any public gathering of strangers organized online.

Most events of this nature can be split into one of two groups:

  1. the Improv Everywhere-style stunts in which people who may or may not know each other get together and pull a prank on unsuspecting bystanders in a public place
  2. public fun activities like metro parties or silent discos or snowball fights (such as the events Newmindspace organizes on a regular basis)

The latter more accurately fits the description, but is hardly worthy of the rather negative term “mob”.

I bring this up because of an event that happened yesterday: a public spectacle at the Berri-UQAM metro station that the public was invited to participate in. It was described as a “flash mob” by its creator, but it was really just a PR stunt.

A PR stunt for cancer prevention, which I’m all for and everything, but a PR stunt nonetheless.

What bugs me most is that this was organized through a “flash mob” Facebook group which was taken over by a marketing company without its members’ permission. I suppose it’s not the end of the world. People can just remove themselves from the group if they don’t like it. And who’s going to oppose a public event for cancer awareness?

But it’s an example of grassroots fun being usurped by corporate interests. Instead of “flash mobs”, they’re now “street marketing” events. Yesterday, it was a yellow-scarfed song for cancer research. Will the next one be shilling for Doritos? Will commuters have to live in fear every day they go to work because they might be forced into some ill-conceived marketing stunt in which they’ve been made the sucker?

We’ll see.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for non-corporate fun, Montreal’s pillow fight is Saturday at 3pm at Phillips Square.

| Fun, Montreal, Photos

Nuit Blanche Part 2: Art Souterrain

Art Souterrain

I’m not an art critic. Or an art lover. Or really an art anything. So when I look through the guide to the Nuit Blanche, I glaze over all the art galleries, dance performances, films, plays, DJs or anything else of the sort. Instead, I concern myself with fun things in the Old Port or anything that’s funny.

But something about this “Art Souterrain” project caused me to want to go there. It was free, it was in a heated environment, and you could walk through it all without waiting in lines, checking your coats or feeling guilty about leaving early. You could spend about 10 seconds at one installation and then move on to the next one. And that’s pretty much what I did.

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| Fun, Montreal, Public transit

Nuit Blanche: Metro doesn’t close tonight

What, you were planning on sleeping tonight? What are you, crazy?

The city opens up with free exhibits, events and parties all across downtown from the Old Port to the Canadian Centre for Architecture for the Nuit Blanche all night (though most of the fun ends around 3am).

All-night metro

The STM, which runs free shuttles between locations, has agreed to keep the metro running all night long, and even has a contest going related to finding metro art at various stations throughout the night. Details and forms are available at the Berri-UQAM service centre or Nuit Blanche info kiosks.

The extension of service doesn’t apply to buses though. Most day routes are timed to coincide with the last metro trains, which depart Berri at 1:30am on Saturday nights. If your trip home involves bus travel, you might want to be on that train.

Otherwise, the night bus network runs as normal, and because it’s Saturday the busier routes (358 Sainte-Catherine and 361 Saint-Denis) run about every 10-15 minutes.

Stuff to see

I was going to give some suggestions for stuff to go to, but I’m not an art critic, so I’ll leave it to these guys instead.

The official site (unfortunately) has been turned into a Facebook page, and the link to the official PDF is dead.

Here are some quick tips for tonight, for those still near a computer who are going out:

  • Go to the Old Port. Some of the best free stuff happens there and it’s a fun atmosphere
  • Bring something to drink if you’re planning on being out all night
  • Dress warmly, preferably in layers if you’re spending time inside and out (or, like me, just ignore that and bring a big coat you can put on and take off)
  • Don’t try to go to too many events, especially if they’re far from each other. The shuttle system is efficient, but with all the people on them they’re not terribly fast.

Finally, it seems my favourite event, the free 5am breakfast at Complexe Desjardins, isn’t happening this year.

See you out there.

| Fun, Montreal

Board games I’d like to play

Sure, there’s Montreal-as-Boardwalk Monopoly, but how about some board games that are all-Montreal?

Metro

From metrodemontreal.com

From metrodemontreal.com

I have no clue how this game is supposed to work, but it looks fun. Spotted in a metrodemontreal.com forum post.

Montreal Risk

Montreal Risk

I played this at a Geek Montreal GeekOUT, and won. (Hint: Controlling the West Island is key.)

Sadly, I wish I could point you to somewhere to buy/download/copy these things, but my searches have come up empty. So just stare at the pictures and imagine the fun of some day conquering the Plateau.

| Fun, Opinion

Corporatization of fun

Friendly game of tag, or an ad for Orange Crush?

Corporatization of fun: Friendly game of tag, or an ad for Orange Crush?

As an observer of society, I belong to some Facebook groups that may or may not turn into things. One of them was a generic flashmob group, which had hopes of organizing something fun at some point, but never actually did so.

Today I get an email from the group, which has been taken over by a “street marketing company” with big ambitions:

Objet : Hi flashmobers !

I am taking in charge your group.
My name is Ludovic and I am working in Trako Media, a street marketing company. We want to create an EVENT. A giant EVENT with thousands of flashmobers. We are already planning some future events where we would like everybody to activly participate. We gonna work full days and weeks to make it better than any other one in any other town.
Montreal is full of enthousiastic people who love having FUN.
We are already 46 members. Can you send invitation to your friends ? Talk to others ? Print and pomote the group on school or university walls ?

We need 1000 flashmobers for the first offical Flash Mob. Don’t worry, I’m sure you ‘ll like our ideas :D

So let’s start and feel free to message me !

Sorry for my english :P Je parle un peu mieux français…

Maybe I’m just picky, but nothing kills the spirit of a flashmob than having it be organized by a marketing company, which will no doubt have some commercial motivation behind such events.