2,000 people converge for what just might be the biggest pillow fight in history (via digg). Looks like (as any pillow fight ought to be) complete pandemonium -- and enormous amounts of fun.There's amusing video coverage over at RocketBoom and heaps of photos on Flickr.
What's the point of living in the 21st century if total strangers can't whack each other in the head with down-stuffed pillows? We don't get flying cars (DAMMIT) but at least we get sort-of spontaneous pillow fights in major urban centres. I don't know if anyone predicted the future would be this... silly. I guess part of that's because if the future's silly, how much sillier is it to be spending time predicting it? And who wants to hear that, anyway? When Syd Mead is doing his "futuring" stuff, or when Bill Gibson is poking at what's around the corner, if they come back from their imaginary voyages and say, "Well, I've seen the future and it's full of, um, kind of goofy parties."
And we'll say, "Cool! Like cyber-parties? With androids?"
"Uh, no. Pillow fights, it looks like. Really big pillow fights."
"You suck."
Nobody would have bought Neuromancer if Case and Molly had gone off on each other with pillows. Or watched Blade Runner if Deckard and Roy had ended up at a Pirates of the StreetcARRR Party. It's not cool. It's not hip. It's just very, very silly. But I say that's good.
Embracing the silly is critical. For too long power has been concentrated in the hands of the non-silly. I say it's time we did something about this! I say it's time for the sillies to take over!
And conveniently for me, they already have, and they've got a website. People like this deserve to go to heaven.