Where were you on 1/31/07?

[mrv3000]

Pic of the day.



Only thing that would have put the icing on the cake with this shot was if he had a gun pointed at it. Mwah.

Okay, I understand the need for caution at times, but these were signs. With D batteries. That had apparently been up for 3 weeks. (At least according to this AP article.) And now they've arrested the people who put them there? But remember, we're all living in this "post 9/11 [OMGWTFWEREALLGONNADIE] world."

ETA: Have been reading more articles because I'm now finding this fascinating. Apparently some are saying "not all publicity is good publicity" and that this will end up hurting the show. Uh...I rather have the feeling that ATHF's target audience (males 18-24) are for the most part laughing their asses off at this.

ETA2: Okay, Wil Wheaton and I are on the total same wavelength. Here and here.

Comments

[kammgirl.livejournal.com]

"post 9/11 [OMGWTFWEREALLGONNADIE] world."

Too bad we didn't live in it before it happened.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

If this had been before it happened, people would have seen it for the joke it was.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

... and Turner Broadcasting wouldn't be issuing a public apology. Sheez.

I know those things were meant to advertise for a Cartoon Network show, but I can't for the life of me figure out what they are.

[elaminen.livejournal.com]

Whereas I just have terror raids and arrests going on near where I live..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6315989.stm

Edgbaston is the area next to Selly Oak, where I live.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

:(

[mattimooz.livejournal.com]

Do you go to Birmingham Uni by any chance?

[jakeish.livejournal.com]

They were up in other cities and no one else overreacted. The only thing I can say is "lol Boston." :P

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I have the feeling that most people in Boston were even scratching their heads. At least, I would have been.

[ramdonomo.livejournal.com]

The news article over here from kirotv.com:

"To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."

Why didn't he just add, 'You dumbasses' to the end of it? AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAA. Oh, Boston.

[elismor.livejournal.com]

I still just DON'T GET how anyone could look at that and think "bomb".

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Maybe an 80-year-old granny phoned it in? "Oh my goodness. How rude! 'Yes, police? There's a disturbing device...'"

But I refuse to believe Boston has no Bomb Squad. This situation should have been resolved quickly. I'm thinking the second the first guy stepped out of the van. "Um, that's a sign. With batteries."

[syxp.livejournal.com]

Yeah. This is pretty stupid.
I'm glad people are paying attention to their surroundings and calling in suspicious stuff.
Which this would have been. Silly as it is, a blinking thing attached to a bridge is suspicious.

It just should have stopped with the local police. Shutting down the city and throwing people into a panic over these things just ensures that less people will take appropriate actions during a real threat.

sharon

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Exactly to everything you said. Checking out weird things - *more* than fine. But let's have a measured response about it all.

[poohmusings.livejournal.com]

I personally like how the cartoon figure thingy is flicking everyone off. Heh.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I know! :D

[geneeste.livejournal.com]

Is it bad that I laughed at this story and mostly just went "meh" in my total uncaring?

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

I think just about everyone in my office here in Cambridge, MA was laughing about it too, especially when they "identified the hoax".

But unfortunately it wasn't funny for all the people stuck on the highways that they shut down for hours - our CTO was stuck in traffic for over an hour when they shut down the main Interstate running north-south through Boston. That was just a ridiculous over-reaction.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Nope.

[ramdonomo.livejournal.com]

Too.Funneh.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I keep going back and forth between being amused and shaking my head.

[anxietygrrl.livejournal.com]

If I were going to make a bomb (WHICH I AM NOT), I would not put LED lights all over it.

Shake would, though.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

If I were going to make a bomb (WHICH I AM NOT), I would not put LED lights all over it.

Um, yeah.

Shake would, though.

HA! I can just hear it -

"Excellent. Now just add the lights."

"But, Shake. I don't think you should put lights..."

"Goddammit, it needs to light up! And blink! A lot!"

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

As I look at more articles... I genuinely didn't think any sane person could be expected to think the things were dangerous. But someone pointed out in a comment on another friend's (locked) post that they just looked like little black boxes with wires on them when they weren't lit up.

Also, if the ad agency really did tell one of the guys who installed them to keep quiet when they could have called the authorities and cleared up the mess? They're going to lose a lot of credibility on the "not meant to be a serious hoax" thing.

Not that it was up to the two guys to say anything, IMHO. The ad agency damn well should have been calling up the authorities themselves when they found out what was going on! I think, of all this, I'm most boggled by the fact that, at least so far, they've just thrown the two lowest guys on the totem pole in jail!

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

As I look at more articles... I genuinely didn't think any sane person could be expected to think the things were dangerous. But someone pointed out in a comment on another friend's (locked) post that they just looked like little black boxes with wires on them when they weren't lit up.

That I could believe - and so calling someone about it - I really can't find any fault with that. It's the overreaction. The shutting down a city for what should have been a quick discovery of what it actually was.

Also, if the ad agency really did tell one of the guys who installed them to keep quiet when they could have called the authorities and cleared up the mess? They're going to lose a lot of credibility on the "not meant to be a serious hoax" thing.

Oh, yeah. If they knew people were going nuts and knew it was their boards that were the cause, they probably should have picked up the phone. Although, I think I'd probably be in a state of disbelief that signs would have caused all this. "Dude...what?" :D

I think, of all this, I'm most boggled by the fact that, at least so far, they've just thrown the two lowest guys on the totem pole in jail!

Yup! It totally smacks of city officials being embarrassed and so vengeance must be had no matter where it comes from.

And one more thing...

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

There are, needless to say, a number of them for sale on eBay. The tagline on one of the listings?

I found this in Philadelphia in mid-January, not a bomb