Rather than put all 60 photos in a post, I’ll just link to my Flickr photo set from yesterday’s epic snowball fight at Mount Royal Park (the one I told you about and was announced on Facebook and Craigslist).
I wasn’t the only one taking pictures. Another Flickr set is up and I’m sure more will follow.
There are also lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of YouTube videos.
For those unclear, the fight was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Guerre des Tuques.
If you’ve never seen Red Bull’s Crashed Ice event, you need an immediate injection of testosterone. Every year, “competitors” in this event gather in Quebec City to “skate” down a 550-metre track whose grade is better suited for tobogganing than anything one would do on skates. (It’s a 56-metre vertical drop, according to this PDF press release).
The point is not important, I guess it’s a race of some sort. The fun is watching everyone crash as the tumble down the ice. And this year, for the first time, they’re opening it up to women.
Of course, because it’s harmless fun, there’s gotta be someone out there to spoil it. The Mouvement Montréal Français, apparently confused because this event is in Quebec City, is demanding that Red Bull give it a proper French name. The government, desperate to appease francophone activists, has passed on the request with official backing, though they’re stopping short of asking Red Bull to change its own name.
I think it’s a bit insulting to have an event like this in Quebec City with an English name. I’m sure Red Bull’s marketing people could come up with a bilingual one or a clever French name that would solve this situation easily. (They’ve already done it for Italy’s Toro Rosso F1 team) But this should be a result of grassroots pressure, not government fiat.
Either way, let’s not let the political discussion ruin the fun.
Crashed Ice is being broadcast live at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday in French on TVA and in English on TSN HD.
Apparently a giant snowball fight is being organized on Facebook to take place starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Participants are encouraged to build snow forts a day earlier, and to abide by various rules of fair play (adults only, no ice, no ink, no shots to the face)
The event page says Jeanne-Mance Park, but they actually mean Mount Royal Park, near the Georges-Étienne Cartier statue near the corner of Park Ave. and Rachel St. (Jeanne-Mance Park is the one on the East side of Park Ave.)
The Facebook event page has 280 “confirmed” in attendance, but those numbers are always heavily inflated. Expect a few dozen to show up.
You might recall last week Montreal attempted its first No Pants Metro Ride. Only there were more journalists than participants and the organizer decided to cancel it.
Here’s the thing:
No Pants participants (that's me on the left)
Don’t believe everything you hear. There was a No Pants ride, it just wasn’t covered. Until now.
Everything I told you in last week’s post actually happened. There weren’t enough participants, and the organizer did yell “It’s cancelled” prompting people to take off in different directions.
But before that, she whispered to participants that they would regroup elsewhere, away from the prying eyes of the media, so they could perform this stunt properly.
Surely, I thought, that wouldn’t actually work. The TV people would just follow everyone into the metro. But it did. Everyone left in small groups, some walked to Mont Royal metro from St. Louis Square (a long, cold trek I might add).
From there, the plan was to regroup at Jean-Talon, near the last car on the Snowdon-bound platform.
Unfortunately, along with the media, the group lost all but eight of its members, including the five above (others didn’t want to be photographed pantsless).
Pantsless on the metro after all
They decided to proceed. A single car, with eight pantsless participants spread around, pretending not to notice each other. The media was represented by a single person, The Gazette’s Amy Luft (who went through the trouble of actually talking to organizers beforehand and didn’t come with a photographer). She writes about the event in today’s paper.
Since Amy was already covering it, I decided to go as a participant instead of a journalist. When the time came, I removed my pants, and placed them in my bag. As you can see from the photo above, I had shorts on. This I considered a public service, as nobody wants to see me walking around in my underwear, even as a stunt.
During the event itself, what seemed to disturb me most was how little the crowd reacted. Some giggled, some looked twice, but most just sat there, thinking either nothing was strange with people pantsless in January, or that it wasn’t worthy of their attention.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any photographers present (beyond my really crappy cellphone). The top photo was taken at Berri-UQAM, after we had finished, just in case someone needed proof that people had indeed taken their pants off.
Although the event ended up happening, there’s still a lot to learn for next time. How to deal with the media, how to photograph the event without people noticing, and how to get more participants to show up.
Reports from other No Pants events have come in. Improv Everywhere has a summary of what happened in New York, with links to similar events around the world. Improv in Toronto has a report about their event (the second-largest behind New York).
Evil media vampires plot to suck out the fun
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle, according to Wikipedia (and the article sounds nerdy enough to be true) is a theory about observation in quantum physics that says you can know the position or momentum of a particle, but not both (it’s an argument used against Star Trek’s molecular transporter device, which the show’s writers conveniently solved with the creation of a mythical Heisenberg compensator). It’s a principle often confused by idiots like myself with the observer effect, in which observing an event alters it. For humans, psychologists call this “reactivity”
Today, as I walked to St. Louis Square to participate in Montreal’s first No Pants metro ride, I noticed an abnormally large number of television cameras and professional photographers gathered behind a hilariously small fence. They’d been banished from the group by its leader.
This event, which was supposed to catch metro riders off-guard, got a bit too much media attention in advance. My post begat some others (including one from Dominic Arpin) and culminated in an article in La Presse the morning of the event. From there, it seems to have made every assignment editor’s desk and with nothing else going on today, they decided it would make a great photo op.
Of course, if any of the journalists had familiarized themselves with Improv Everywhere or had bothered to talk to the organizers in advance (only The Gazette and La Presse made any effort to do so), they’d have learned pretty quickly that a giant television camera and journalists with notepads would ruin the entire event.
No Pants metro ride participants
Complicating matters was the fact that, despite the attention it got, there were only about a dozen people who showed up to participate. More people came to observe the event than take part in it.
After waiting for stragglers and discussing it with some of the people gathered, organizer Robin Friedman yelled “It’s cancelled!” and everyone went their separate ways.
Later, she told me she was really pissed about the media presence (myself excepted), and slightly less so by the fact that when Facebook says someone’s going to be there, it’s anyone’s guess if that’s actually true.
So don’t expect any big articles or front-page photos about the event in Sunday’s paper. Instead, you’ll read an article next Saturday in the Gazette about how the media ruined Montreal’s participation in a global day of fun.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to publicize an event like this to get enough participants but not so much that the news people get wind of it and blow everyone’s cover. A solution to that problem is being thought out, hopefully in time for Montreal’s Second Annual No Pants Subway Ride.
The event in Toronto seems to have gone off well. The Sun has a story with video (though I couldn’t make it play) and there’s already a video on YouTube as well.
Other regional reports can be found at Improv Everywhere along with the reports from New York.
Details on the pantsless action from my earlier blog post. 3pm at Carré St-Louis (Sherbrooke metro)
Facebook shows 54 confirmed, which could mean anything really.
Just remember to bring a bag to put your pants in, and don’t bring a camera because that will ruin the effect.
No Pants Day in New York (Improv Everywhere photo)
Robin Friedman, who has been behind metro parties, scavenger hunts, bubble battles and other fun free stuff in town, is putting together a Montreal event for Improv Everywhere’s famous Global No Pants Subway Ride next Saturday. New York-based Improv Everywhere has been performing this stunt every January since 2002, having its “agents” ride the subway with no pants on (in the middle of winter) and pretend that it’s perfectly normal.
Here’s the Facebook event. For the benefit of those not on Facebook, the details are as follows:
Meeting point is 3pm at Carré St. Louis (near the fountain). From there, agents will receive further instructions and be sent to nearby metro stations to prepare for the no-pants ride. Bring a backpack to hide your pants in, and don’t wear underwear that’s indecent or is designed to attract attention.
Full details are copy-pasted below.
For those of you worried about the legal implications, the STM’s rules do not require the wearing of pants, though they prohibit being barefoot, subject to a fine of $50-$500. So make sure to wear shoes or boots.
An important note: The event is contingent on at least 25 people participating and will be cancelled if it doesn’t get that amount. So make sure to indicate your presence if you plan on going (and bring your friends).
A similar event is also being planned for Toronto.
UPDATE (Jan. 6): “Someone should call the police or something. I would not want my children/nieces/nephews to have to be subjected to this.”
The folks behind the various metro parties that have been organized over a year and a half now are putting together another one for Sunday, starting at 9 p.m. from the Montmorency metro station (where the last car boards).
For those unfamiliar with the concept, I point you to the article I wrote about the first one back in March of 2007.
Question Period has gotten downright entertaining now that there’s an actual power struggle going on. But, like a bad sitcom, our politicians are just repeating the same talking points over and over.
So let’s turn this into something fun: a drinking game!
WARNING: This is extremely dangerous and can quickly lead to alcohol poisoning. Take small sips.
Drink every time you hear one of the following:
Winners of the second Montreal Underground Scavenger Hunt
For those of you who missed the underground scavenger hunt a few weeks ago, above is the winning team (they were also the only team with four players, which helped). But if you divide the score by the number of players to get a proportional score, I alone come out on top. So in a way I won.
In any case, there’s no real reason why you can’t try it out on your own if you have an hour and a half to spare. Here’s the list of stuff to find in the underground city:
I got 15 points. Can you do better?
Alex and Kristin check their lists during February's scavenger hunt
After a successful event in February with about 40 in attendance, a second underground city scavenger hunt is being organized next weekend on Facebook and through other channels.
Here’s the details:
Saturday, Nov. 8, 12:30pm at the Central Station food court (which is near the gates for the Deux Montagnes commuter train line). The game starts at 1pm and ends at 3pm at the same place.
No entrance fee, age limitations or secret code words.
What you need to bring:
For those of you who weren’t aware of the previous hunt, you can read my post about it, which includes a full list of the items people were searching for. It’s almost all stuff that’s worthless and can be picked up for free in the underground city. You can also read the piece I did for The Gazette about it.
Robin inspects the goodies
For those who were there in February, organizer Robin (that’s her above) has made some tweaks to the rules for this time around, mostly concerning what happens when a team arrives late (which happened a lot last time, causing many items to be disqualified). Also note that the meeting point is different.
There’s no RSVP required, but doing so on Facebook would help with estimating how many people will show up.
The Société de développement environmentale de Rosemont (yeah, I didn’t know they existed either) is sponsoring a guided bicycle tour of the borough’s environmental-friendliness. Perhaps more interesting is that at least one bike shop (Bicycle Beaubien) will be on hand to help you out with any bike needs and there will be some free food, all on the city’s dime.
Route for SODER's bicycle tour of Rosemont
The tour starts at Bellechasse and 16th Ave. at 1:30pm on Saturday (Aug. 16). For more information, consult the press release (PDF).
Some local fun-seekers are trying to drum up last-minute support for a silent dance party tonight (Friday) at 9:30 at Place Jacques-Cartier (actually, at the fountain just beside City Hall). The idea is you bring your own music and you dance to it listening on your headphones. And because you’re doing it as a group, you look like less of an idiot.
Or maybe more like an idiot.
Details are also on the Facebook page.
From the people that brought you Manhunt, metro parties, pillow fights and other pointless fun comes a bubble battle, scheduled for Saturday at 4pm at Phillips Square:
This Saturday, come blow bubbles with us at Phillips Square. Watch people’s eyes light up as millions of bubbles soar majestically through the air. Bring friends, cameras and, of course, what you need to create bubbles
You can join the Facebook event or, you know, just show up with bubble-making equipment of your choice.