What the heck is this? Three times the AARP has sent me something, acting as if I’m already a member, simply because I’m over (just over) 50. And this will be the third time I ignore them. How much money do they spend trying to move up the aging process? I’m sorry, but this is about them and what they want and not about me. Call me later, AARP, after my ankle is better and I’m running again, when I’m not feeling old.
It was supposed to be Gorilla Suit Day, and instead it turned into Guerrilla Lawsuit Day!
The spin machine is working. There’s lots of tough talk, and an arrest has been made in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force “guerrilla” advertising campaign.
Artist arrested for planting marketing figures
By Maria Cramer and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff
The man who sent city and State Police rushing to defuse what they believed were explosive devices around the Boston region was arrested tonight.
Attorney General Martha Coakley scheduled a 9 p.m. press conference to announce the arrrest of Peter Berdvosky, an Arlington artist.
What stopped the city was the way the situation was handled. Here’s audio from WBZ radio. You’ll hear some of a news report, the beginning of Paul Sullivan’s talk show, and part of the opening statement at that 9 p.m. news conference by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. Lots of talk about getting tough, along with the usual compliments about how well all of the various agencies cooperated, and what a great job everybody is doing, blah, blah, blah…
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JAN07/WBZBostonTerror.mp3]The Boston Globe has posted this editorial, and I’m glad it includes the following comment:
Homeland Security experts will need to review the response of local law enforcement. Public safety personnel may have overreacted; local bloggers apparently identified the guerrilla advertising campaign early on.
The fact that the promotional campaign was orchestrated by an advertising agency on behalf of The Cartoon Network isn’t incidental or irrelevant, but these mysterious objects could have been a stunt by college kids. Does this mean that ANYthing out of the ordinary, no matter what it is, can result in an emergency response of such magnitude? If so, then we’ve lost the war on terrorism.
Good thing Spidey isn’t in Boston, or his webbed-up street clothes would be mistaken for a bomb, and the panicked response by the authorities would bring the city to a standstill.
Once again, when it mattered most, Boston, Massachusetts, my area of residence, did the wrong thing. Today had some of the most comical examples of incompetence the city and the Commonwealth have ever displayed. Colbert is going to have a blast with this tonight (well, OK, not tonight). Our new governor, Deval Patrick, must be furious to have this as the first crisis of his administration.
Fortunately it was comical, because the last time we screwed up this badly, 11-Sept-01, the outcome was anything but funny. If you don’t know what happened, click here. If that link asks you for a registration that you don’t want to have, click here.
At the moment, reader comments on Boston.com are mostly critical of the reaction and response by the city and state. Here are a few examples:
…The only people that should get in trouble for this are the idiots that thought they were bombs
…look, i realize that thing arent what they were 10 years ago, but the authorities need to apply common sense to these types of situations instead of rushing into defcon 5. and they can relax with the macho posturing about “getting to the bottom of this hoax” already; you guys look plenty stupid so far, i would suggest you drop it before you embarass [sic] yourselves further. turner and the ad company did nothing wrong, i hope they defend themselves against this “anti-terrorist” dog-and-pony show
…If these devices have been in place in other cities without problems, then it shows what idiots we have running the show in Boston
The terrorists have won! And they didn’t even have to do anything today to succeed. If anything, today’s events highlighted that we have more to fear from the appalling condition of the city’s bridges and overpasses. This thing looks like it’s ready to collapse on its own, no bomb necessary!
I wish there were some good online aerial photos of this area, instead of just this satellite image. This area shows most of my world for six years while growing up. In the lower, left corner is the Silvermine School. Our house was just below the “n” in Adams Ln. We had 2½ acres. The property was a perfect mix of grassy and rocky, woods and fields, flat and hilly. Here’s to Norwalk!
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JAN07/Niea7.flv 400 300]
We’re currently watching a series called Niea7. Here are the opening and closing credits, followed by one of Dalgit’s Tidbits. Don’t ask for an explanation! I could have included the sub-titles with translation, but it wouldn’t help.
The guy singing the theme song, Sion, makes Bob Dylan sound velvet-voiced! The closing song is a typically happy and sweet female vocal.
