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The modern news consumer ignores Weblogs and online citizen journalism at his own peril. But not everyone has the time to keep track of what's going on the Web. With this blog we hope to track the highlights of what's being discussed online so when news breaks from the Web, we're ready.

Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

Send a message to Will at spotter@msnbc.com



That video of the guys placing the LED street art/ad bombs that freaked out Boston

Posted: Thursday, February 01, 2007 7:54 AM by Will Femia

*There are now 6 updates to this entry.

The story, in case you missed it, is that some guys hung LED computer-game-looking cartoon figures around Boston as part of a TV show promotion.  Being prone to jumping at shadows and not recognizing any pop culture or subculture more obscure than Ronald McDonald, authorities pushed the panic button, news services broke out the bright red freak-out banners and now everyone's grumpy about it.

The artist's actual site is Zebbler.com but it's pretty much nuked right now so we'll have to accept the YouTube version.  One site that does work is GlitchCrew, mentioned at the start of the video.  You'll recognize Zebbler at the bottom of the list of artists.

Of course no.

UPDATE:  Best press conference ever.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  Zebbler's MySpace page

The Interference Inc. site (crashed at the moment).  Does this help or hurt them?  Would you hire them for some guerilla marketing now?  They certainly managed to generate publicity anyway.

The Graffiti Research Lab, though saluted at the end of the video, was not responsible for the stunt.  (They are, however, responsible for this amazing project in Rotterdam.)

Via AdRants I clicked a Boston.com story pointing out that a generation gap is the real culprit:

"The episode exposed a wide generational gulf between government officials who reacted as if the ads might be bombs and 20-somethings raised on hip ads for Snapple, Apple, and Google who instantly recognized the images for what they were: a viral marketing campaign."

(There are some interesting links and comments in the AdRants forum.)

Not only is this about new marketing tricks that are familiar to a younger generation, but I think there's an argument to be made that there is a rising tide of new ideas about public space.  I know I keep harping on this, but seriously, get used to it.

Speaking of gaps, Boing Boing covers some of the confusion about whether Make magazine had any involvement (they didn't).  This week I've been chewing people's ears about the rising problem of sourcing on the Web.  Who is the girl in the bride haircut video?  Who is the guy crashing his car in the YouTube PWNED compilations?  Granted, this is a little different, but there's definitely a new environment for journalists to deal with when it comes to tracing online tracks.

UPDATE 3:  The t-shirts are here.

UPDATE 4: I was thinking about what my reaction would be if I'd seen one of these signs and it occurred to me that I'd probably have photoblogged it and sent it to the Streetsy photo pool.  So I poked around to see if anyone had actually done so and let me just say there are some funny parodies out there.  Anyway, I did find one in a search for "throwies," which you'll recall is what they call these LEDs stuck to magnets.

Speaking of finding stuff on Flickr, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the reason for the mistaken association with Make magazine is that they featured photos from Flickr in the context of how to make "Aqua Teen Hunger Force LED art."  Those photos came from someone who found one under a bridge in  Boston two weeks ago and took it home.

UPDATE 5: Own your own today. Bidding is up to $425.00 as of now. How well do you think this thing will hold its value?  Thanks for the tip Kate!

OK, ONE MORE AND THEN I'LL MOVE ON:

"...Stop using the word "hoax." There was no hoax. Hoax implies they were trying to make their signs look like bombs. They weren't. They made Lite-Brite signs of a cartoon character giving the finger."

Here's Boing Boing coverage making a similar point and somewhat embarrassingly including my cable colleagues.

Here's another one for the list:  Don't say these guys shot themselves in the foot by giving an obnoxious press conference.  How compliant they are with the press or sympathetic to the public has nothing to do with their court case.  The judge isn't going to say, "Well, obviously you didn't intend to terrorize the city, but since you were rude to the media, I'm finding you guilty anyway."

The real question for Boston is how did other cities manage to handle these devices without shutting themselves down for hours?

A home made LED t-shirt

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Comments

I can't believe they arrested the guys that put these silly things out in Boston. They should arrest or at least fire all the idiots that over reacted to this so called emergency. If you look at the expense, in both time and money, of all the so called security measures we endure in the US now, the terrorists won. This country needs to relax and get on with living, maybe focus on getting us out of the stupid war Bush got is into instead?

James Smith (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 11:32 AM)

Did the people freaking out think to actually see if the LEDs made the shape of something flipping people off?

Sam P., Oak Park, IL (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:04 PM)

It's really sad that we have created such a completely paranoid society. I agree w/ James - let's can the folks that flipped out about it. A little common sense and investigation would have prevented the whole incident. Having said that, I think the creators could have probably done a better job of making them look a little more polished, which also would have probably avoided the situation. But these guys should not be jailed, fined, charged or anything of that nature. Simply ridiculous.

John, Austin, TX (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:07 PM)

This is a Southpark episode waiting to happen.

Alex, Lawrence, KS (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:11 PM)

"Cry Wolf" this time. Ignore the next time when it's real. Send the bill to Corporate pinheads who think it's cool the scare people.

Two Cities (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:11 PM)

What should be questioned also is the response time. These LED signs had been hanging in Boston and several other cities for nearly three weeks. If it warranted the amount spent on it, it should have been discovered earlier. Also, investigation should have been performed on the first one found to determine the danger before all law enforcement was sent out and all expenses were made. A quick look would tell the average person that it's just a revved up Lite-Brite.

Dave Lund, Carmel IN (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:23 PM)

Obviously in hindsight, officials should have been told about this, but the fact remains that the police freaked out over lite-brites! Unless you are either too young to have owned one or too old to have bought one for your kids, how could you not recognize it? I think the police and city is just embarrassed that they didn't realize it was nothing, so they are trying to put the blame on the artists and Turner. Also, don't they do these kinds of public advertisements in New York City all the time?

Justin, Washington DC (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:38 PM)

Will, something bothers me here much more than these finger-flipping cartoons. I happened onto the same post on Test Pattern, Gael's blog, and there are 187 comments! Why is Gael getting so much mroe attention? Is it her love of FBOFW? (Also interesting is the vast number of comments on her blog that say how these people SHOULD be arrested. I guess you just reach different demographics...)

Patrick, Chicago, IL (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:53 PM)

I'm sure everyone recognizes a backpack too. But they weren't harmless on July 7, 2005 in London, were they? This was a stupid stunt with wide ranging consequences. It was the poorly advised placement of some of these LEDs that led to the response...tied to a support mast under a major highway and by a busy bus terminal, attached to structural supports for bridges, etc. The punishment should be public humiliation. If you think I'm over-reacting perhaps it's because I was working for the London Underground (where there are no trash bins in the stations because of earlier IRA terrorism) when the bombing occurred. While you heard about the number of deaths, the many, many people who were maimed and horribly disfigured are seldom mentioned. It was gruesome. So sorry if I sound like a party-pooper but we need to view our actions in a broader context than that of a cartoon.

C Webster, Boston MA (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 1:07 PM)

If one wants to over react as C Webster has, then you need to have a complete culture of fear that alerts on anything different/new (as in Israel, the UK during the IRA bombings, France during the garbage can bombings, etc). You also want to get rid of newspaper racks, garbage cans, parked cars, and so on. You also want to have people watch everybody else to see if they act "strange" or leave anything behind. All of these pose a much more serious threat. To react to something so physically small that had been there for a couple weeks says that they are not letting the experts look at it before panicking. I suspect that the bigger problem is that no one wants to be the one who did not react. So, over-reacting is always better (you can call it "prudence" later) than appearing to under-react (by using common sense for example). Yes, terrorism is horrible and its purpose is to strike fear into everyday people doing what should be everyday activities. But, they have methods that work far better than trying to stick highly noticeable light-boards on metal objects. Backpacks, real shaped charges, poisonous gas bombs, etc. are the preferred tools of the terrorists because they actually would do some harm. I suppose the good news in this is that it will make all "guerrilla advertisers" think twice before posting anything anywhere.

Paul, Alamo, CA (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 1:31 PM)

Patrick, in addition to doing a great job with the Test Pattern blog, Gael also posted on this story waaay ahead of me. She struck while the iron was hot. Plus, she is much better than I at working with the MSNBC.com format. Note that in the main MSNBC.com story there is a link to Test Pattern. Note also that instead of a little crappy blurb she wrote something almost like an article so it could be pitched as part of overall coverage of the story. It's probably also significant that the Test Pattern blog is about TV, which ultimately is what is at the root of this story. All these things mean better traffic, which means more comments.

Will Femia (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 1:38 PM)

Will, you missed the best part. NBC and others are blurring the picture of the finger in their videos! This is a stick figure with its "finger" being a vertical line, yet we are protected from this.

Paul, Alamo, CA (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:04 PM)

Bush has pushed fear so much, that he has everybody parnoid.

Hal Brown (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:07 PM)

Re: Who is the girl in the bride haircut video? http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/176962

PLeB, Toronto, ON (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:09 PM)

OMG! I love these guys! (The guys in the Press Conference.) They are my new heroes. As for Boston - the Mayor should declare an emergency and designate Friday, Feb 2nd "Prozac For Everyone Day!" with free drug handouts at all pharmacies. Really. How do you confuse a bunch of light brite cartoon fingers shooting the bird for bombs? Good news for incompetent voters in Florida - another group has proven themselves even stupider than you: Bostonians!

Gary Murfreesboro (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:16 PM)

Sorry for so many comments, but I have to say that I do not think this is a generational thing. I am 47 and I knew what these were when I saw them. I also recognize this kind of guerrilla or viral advertising when I see it. I do not live in a big city, but when I go to San Francisco (30 minutes away), I understand the point of these kinds of ad campaigns - to attract my attention when I am so good at tuning out the normal ads. Note that this did not go out of control in NY, where you would expect more fear. I think this is more of a "not on my watch" mentality. Or, the other option is that the Boston officials did this so Bostonians would not think them ridiculous only for the Big Dig mess ;-)

Paul, Alamo, CA (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:19 PM)

i cant believe that the city of boston is so stupid. if they wasted $1,000,000 on this, then it needs to be taken out of their supervisor's pockets. they did the same stunt in new york, and many other large cities in the US. this isnt news-worthy.....get on with the REAL news! stop giving ted turner and friends free publicity for their hamburger and fries game! let the 10 year olds find it!

ted (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:22 PM)

This is silly they have been doing art like this for awhile now and just because a city takes something way out of hand. Why should some cartoon artist and a group of light artist be held accountable.

Blaesn Scottsdale Az (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:36 PM)

..... we are the aqua teen hunger force.... Here's one reason why the people who overreact to terrorism are mindless sheeps: The number of Americans killed as a result of international terrorism since the 1960's gives us a benchmark from which we can correctly identify and target other dire dangers to our very way of life. - Allergic reactions to peanuts - Accident causing deer - Lightning strikes Now how come we don't spend billions of dollars trying to ban the sales of peanuts? Or killing all deer in the county, and why don't we shut down a state\city everytime a lighting strike is possible in the area? But terrorism is the real problem.....right.

Matt Conshy PA (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:38 PM)

Are you kidding me? When did Boston fall out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down? 1st If anyone had the right to say anything, it should be New York (for those of you who panicked in Boston, THATS where 911 happened). As far as I've heard, New York hasn't said a thing. 2nd A Lite Brite, who didn't own a Lite Brite when they where kids (also for panicked Boston people, that's what your scary bomb was). 3rd who the h*ll would make a bomb out of a Lite Brite? Don't you think they would NOT want the bombs to be discovered if it was legit?

Mike, Danbury, CT (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:54 PM)

Will, you are correct about the nature of advertising changing. The concept of the use of public space for advertising will be seen more and more as "traditional" media for advertising becomes less relevant. Advertising agencies will not go away, they are masters of adaptation, but how they reach the public will. This dustup is just part of the growing pains.

Lynette, Haysville, Kansas (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:06 PM)

I think there is something about Boston that needs to be noticed here... This over-reaction that spreads into prosecuting anybody and everybody feels to me an awful lot like what I've read about the hysteria that gave rise to the Salem witchcraft trials. What is it with the culture of Massachussetts that the officials keep geting up-in-arms about imaginary terrors, which everybody else seems to take in stride (whether we should or not)?

karonafish (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:13 PM)

exactly, who in their right mind would advertise the presence of a bomb with lights? It's absolutely mind-boggling that anyone feels threatened by this and even more mind-boggling that people are trying to justify the arrests. Seriously, what have you been smoking America?

Phil, Omaha, Ne (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 5:04 PM)

Will- After reading your one link showing the guy who found one and took it home, I got the crazy idea to do an EBay search for Mooninite LED. Turns out someone is auctioning one of these LEDs on EBAY for $400.00 as a starting bid. Heres the web address; http://cgi.ebay.com/Aqua-Teen-Hunger-Force-Mooninite-LED-Sign-not-bomb_W0QQitemZ160081117584QQihZ006QQcategoryZ363QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I guess these things will probably become collectors items. When the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie comes out, how many more people do you think will go to see it than otherwise would have? I think Boston just donated an insane amount of advertising to this show.

Kate M, Lansdale (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 5:22 PM)

Wednesday night two other Mooninite LED's were on ebay and bids were past $5,000 a piece, (and weren't due to be finished for nearly a week) there's a good chance they got taken down by someone (police? Turner? ebay?)

Janna (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 6:23 PM)

I doubt this can be explained away as a generation gap. Adult Swim's initial lineup included several shows that can only be truly appreciated by we older viewers who grew up with the cartoons from the 60's and 70's. "Sealab 2021", "Harvey Birdman (AaL)", and "The Brak Show" are some good examples. Even newer shows like "The Venture Bothers" are knockoffs of old 60's cartoons like "Johnny Quest". I watched "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" just as religiously as I watched the shows that hooked me on Adult Swim in the first place. I'd also note that ATHF has been out for years, folks. It's almost Old School compared to some of the newer ones like "Robot Chicken". So, the very first time I heard about this ridiculous scare I thought about Ignignokt's closing line during the Mooninites debut on ATHF. I figured it was the ultimate response to Boston's hysterical paranoia over Lite Brite advertising. Scene: As the Mooninites fly away from Earth Ignignokt stands at one of their view ports flipping the bird back at ATHF. Then quietly, in that lilting singsong voice of his we hear him say "I hope they can see this because I'm doing it as hard as I can".

Last Redoubt (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 6:38 PM)

the best interview evvverrr! rock on indeed! LMAO! its just a ride & that was a nice pit stop.

ithink_ithink (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 6:44 PM)

I think what this says is that alot more people will be using interference as their advertising firm. This definitely got national exposure down pat. For free. Good job Boston, for using your ignorance to help sell movie tickets.

Josh M, Houston, Tx (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 7:04 PM)

well what happened was stupid does anyone really think that terroists would put blinks LED's on bombs to attract attention..? and why were these guys arrested? they did not break the law they simply put up signs that advertised a show there was no bomb hoax it was just a mis-understanding. i mean whats next? someone is going to think a blinking "open" sign is a bomb? and the owner is going to get arrested on a bomb hoax charge..?

Patrick Dubay, Mt.clemens, Michigan (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 7:21 PM)

How about a public survey (click here for "Funny-no repercussions for the perpetrators; or click here for "Throw the book at those guys. We don't need those kinds of jokesters running loose." It was in extremely poor taste and could have been dangerous. I vote "throw the book" MM/CSC

Marilynne Moose (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 7:47 PM)

It was fun to see the press actually get hostile towards these guys. They were obviously not going to give any specific answers, but since they wouldn't play the "'No Comment'repeated ad nauseum game" the press started getting personal with jabs about the guy washing his hair. Looks like the police in Boston aren't the only who can't recognize a joke.

Joe Vaquera, San Antonio, Texas (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 8:16 PM)

There are no Mooninite LED signs to be found on eBay anymore. The one linked to is gone, probably removed by eBay because of the mass panic surrounded by this. Yet another case of mass paranoia by the sheep-like masses.

Kat, Memphis TN (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 8:48 PM)

I live in Boston, and was concerned during the day when the reports of multiple unknowns came in. Once I saw what the bomb squad had responded to, I could not reasonably figure what the panic was all about---a lite-brite whith four D-cell batteries attached? There was no possibility that this could be a bomb of any import, it was more like some kind of joke--all the posturing by city figures seem more to me like trying to cover their butts for overreacting to a big farce. This is my opinion, even though I sat on an Orange Line train for two hours while the first device was "deactivated" by the bomb squad, and although relatives died on planes at 9/11 and friends who worked at WTC.

Joe (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 9:54 PM)

It's funny that this would cause a huge stir but that artist who built the bomb as art (you had a link to him on here once) was completely ignored by NYC and once I think he had even blown his face off and started over. But that's no sweat, light brites on the other hand are a major problem.

Amanda (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:11 PM)

CHEAP WAY TO ADVERTISE ITS SURE ITS CAUGHT THE NATIONS EYE.PAY THE FINES HIRE THE LAWERS TO GET THE TWO OF THEM OUT OF IT DONE PROMO.2000000 FOR 30 SECONDS AT THE SUPER BOWL!!!! BUT LETS NOT FORGET WHERE 911 STARTED.BOSTON DID NOT OVER REACT..IF ANYTHING THEY ARE MORE PREPARED NOW..AT THERE EXPENCE STEVE TOLONO ILL

steve (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:27 PM)

The bottom line is they (the Lite Brite Finger Flippin Ad Co.) got us talking... and regardless if it was an over-reaction or not, and no matter what fines/jail time is levied... they did their job effectively and they will probably get a double paycheck. The rest of the Ad world will look at them as trend setters (no such thing as bad press after all...) and Boston is probably in for much more of the same... Boston... Grab a perkiset and chill.. we forgave you all already...

Mike Hunt (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:37 PM)

On the brite side (no pun intended) at least all of the bulbs worked in these new advanced lite-brite's...

NYC Des (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:40 PM)

This sounds like a BOSTON LEGAL episode! In fact I think it should be made into a BOSTON LEGAL episode! I can just see the Denny Crane defending the "Lite Brite Bombers" LMAO!!!!!

Hamilton Davies, Miami, FL (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:53 PM)

Well, it is nice that this group realizes the efficacy of our security personnel in Boston. I certainly hope nothing more comes of this, and we can get back to something else equally moronic, say ... an old Get Smart rerun?

James Smith, San Jose, CA (Sent Thursday, February 01, 2007 11:10 PM)

Anybody ever heard of "Streetart"?????????? Anybody missed, that we're living in the twenty-first century? The whole non-story is just, well, funny beyond any measure! Even that overweight baby (of which I was one myself, back in '72) is better than that..... To quote an old Stranglers-song "Just get a grip on yourselves"..... (And I hope, I quoted it right?!?!?!?!?) THE WHOLE THING IS PLAIN STUPID AND RIDICULOUS!!!!!!! I just love the guys for answering questions about HAIR!!!! (LET THE SUN SHINE!!!!) I feel sorry for the commuters, though, somehow..... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Simpson, Chicago, Illinois (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 3:08 AM)

What a gap between those who defend America and those who are oblivious to anything that cuts into their media-saturated hedonism. I cannot even imagine what sort of selfish little brain could attack the authorities for being hypervigilant about a bomb scare. This is a news story that will be cited later - after the authorities have learned not to investigate bomb scares so aggressively, because the public attacks them for the inconvenience.

dari dani (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 7:50 AM)

It's scary to think that law enforcement is so out of touch with our youth. This is what we should be talking about. How can they possibly tackle the drug/crime/violence problems if they don't even know what the youth are watching? They are sadly out of touch. Hence, the lost generation of kids..............

Doona, Sykesville, MD (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 7:56 AM)

The Update #5 URL is dead. They must have pulled the auction. I feel the long creeping tentacles of corporate lawyers reaching out...

E (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 10:20 AM)

I had to respond to those trying to defend the police in this situation. In a perfect world there are unlimited resources the police can utilize to investigate every single little crime. But its not a perfect world, so when the police stupidly spend so much time and money investigating something like this, they are taking those resources away from solving real crimes. Yes, terrorism is real, and just as deadly as peanuts and lightning strikes. But they could have spent this $1M on solving crimes or preventing crimes in progress, where there were real victims. Murderers, robbers, rapists etc do not slow down because they are worried about terrorism.

Ben Johnson, Chicago IL (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 11:24 AM)

I don't think it's as much a generational gap thing as it is a cable/satellite gap thing. Not everyone has access to the cartoon network. I do--via satellite--yet I don't watch it. That said, I likely would have neither thought it was a bomb nor reported it. Any guesses as to what the next real bomb will look like? Anyone?

Alan, Kansas City, MO (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 11:42 AM)

There are still a couple of LEDs on EBay, just go to EBAY and type in LED Mooninites as a search. The top one is bidding up to $1,999.99 and the "Buy it Now" price is $4,999.99. I bet anyone who passed by the guys and didn't pick one up is kicking themselves now.

Kate M, Lansdale, PA (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 12:16 PM)

"Any guesses as to what the next real bomb will look like? Anyone?". Yes. It will look like a parked car under a bridge or next to a building. Or, it will look like a person with a backpack, or just the backpack. Or, it will look like a normal old "electrical box" attached to a metal structure (as these were), so as not to raise any suspicions. And so on. It is very unlikely that it will look like something trying to attract attention (with lights), because that kind of defeats the purpose. Apparently, Boston feels that they have a different kind of terrorist - probably from watching too much TV.

Paul, Alamo, CA (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 2:44 PM)

Am I the only one who sees two over reactions? Obviously Boston authorities went overboard and now trying to justify it by charging these two idiots with a crime. On the other hand, they're just two idiots who aren't all that original or entertaining. Anyone worthy of the title "performance artist" would have conducted a far wittier interview given the material (or avoidance of the material). And just because one city overreacted doesn't mean "we live in a completely paranoid society". OK, maybe if you live in Boston....

Kurt Weaver, Oviedo FL (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 2:48 PM)

This reminds me of the Super Mario-esque question-mark boxes that were placed around a small town in Ohio. It's largely a "hipness" thing, and the majority of pop culture being tied to younger generations means it's also - mostly, but not completely - a generational thing. The "unhipness" of public officials is pretty well documented ("The internet is a series of tubes," e.g.), so I'm not surprised at the utter overreaction. Nor am I surprised that it happened in Boston, which I suspect still feels the sting of 9/11 flights originating there. The ONLY reason I can think of for the ad agency to have realized they should contact some public official is to perhaps get a permit to advertise on a bridge or similar structure (I think of bridges as mainly having road and other informational signs). But if they'd been doing it elsewhere without such a need, then I can see how they wouldn't think they needed to in Boston either. There was absolutely no way to know that paranoia would ensue. They were speaking to a target audience and probably assumed everybody else would either go "gee I wonder what that is" and google it or just ignore it. Ridiculous overreaction, definitely.

LV (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 3:53 PM)

This just in. Boston - Dozens of police swarmed a crowded bar after receiving reports of a "Suspicious" object on the bar's dance floor. Police struggled to evacuate the panicked crowd and in the ensuing havoc at least ten persons and four officers were injured. The device, described as "Boxy, wired and lit from within." was deemed too risky to move due to its bulkiness and "Indeterminate sounds." emanating from it. The bomb squad made the decision to destroy the device on the spot through a controlled explosion, rendering the device harmless and causing substantial damage to the bar. Prior to the detonation some witnesses reported hearing a prerecorded message come from the device that said "God is great. Balls of fire." further deepening fears this was a terrorist attack. Subsequent investigation and forensic examination found the device to be a juke box. Police officials would neither deny nor confirm reports that they had a person of interest in the case. An anonymous source named that person as one - Jerry Lee Lewis. When also asked about the report Mayor Thomas Menino only had this in reply, "If this is indeed the culprit behind this dangerous and destructive hoax, they will be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Greg Crotty, Bohemia NY (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 4:34 PM)



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