Fluff
Last night when Simon came home from band I was watching While You Were Out, one of those cable home-makeover shows, and Simon mentioned that one of his friends was on the show several years ago, although last time he told the story I think it was Trading Spaces. No matter. Anyway, he mentioned that when they did his friend's room, the designers and carpenters didn't quite finish in time and when her husband came home there was a big pile of wood and sawdust in the corner.
"Do you think they just left it there and packed up and went home?" he asked.
"I don't know. It seems like a lot of times they don't finish the rooms under deadline, but it's always little stuff--gluing, varnishing--that can be done quickly and easily by either the designers or the homeowners. I can't imagine they just go 'Ding! Time's up! See ya, suckers!' Although maybe they do. Maybe they leave piles and messes all over people's houses and then just jump ship because they have to move on to the next project and..."
I went on and on with the uninformed speculating for another five minutes before Simon said:
"Um. I guess we could just ask my friend. Since she was actually on the show, you know."
And it is with that in mind that I nevertheless present to you my uninformed speculations on the character of the Pillow Fight Club event that took place in San Francisco on Valentine's Day. It's a collection of boring-ass assorted queries that could be answered in the space of an email since I actually know someone who was there. You'll wish I'd just not posted today, trust me.
--The event was scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m., but did people actually fight consistently for two whole hours or was there a frenzy of flogging and a flurry of feathers for only the first fifteen minutes, after which people just sat down on their pillows on the sidewalk and hung out?
--Who cleaned up the mess? Was the city government involved? Was this funded by taxpayers?
--What percentage of people brought their own personal pillows from home, and what percentage went out and bought ones (from thrift stores?) especially for the fight? Did they choose ones that were especially feathery and weak-seamed? Did they put their own personal pillowcases on them? Did the fashion-conscious make sure their pillowcases matchy-matched with their outfits? Did the hipsters make sure their pillowcases were clad in ironic sayings and obscure pop culture references?
--Did anyone protest the event on the grounds of all the regular reasons people protest things?
--Did anyone get shivved?
--Was there security present to make sure no one brought a pillowcase full of bricks or--even though the website specifies its prohibition--tar?
--I realized that the name is in reference to the movie.
--What is the first rule of Pillow Fight Club?
I like that they held the event on Valentine's Day because although it doesn't have any explicit connection to the holiday, it's the kind of thing that can become whatever its participants make of it: Lovers can whapp each other flirtatiously with pillows and then kiss as fluffs of down swirl through the sky and land in their hair. Bitter singletons can beat the crap out of strangers in a safe and sanctioned public venue. Maybe some sorority girls will show up in nighties and pigtails and jump up and down in slow motion to the delight of those who are into such things.
What club do you want to start?
All very good questions!!
I want to start a club where peole just come over to my house once a week and clean it for free.
first off, thanks for the link!. .. 2nd, let's see if i can answer your questions:
1. the fight started at 6pm sharp with an initial massive frenzy that lasted for a good half hour. . . since i found it tiring just wading thru the throngs of people just holding a videocamera, i'd imagine that if i'd been whaling on people instead the exertion would've been almost like a sprint. . . i noticed that a lot of people were taking short breaks from the pillow fight to catch their breath and stop inhaling feathers - people wearing bandanas over their faces probably came last year and remembered what it was like. . .
gradually, and for various reasons (too pooped, pillow fell apart, just all around had enough) people stopped for good, but even when i bailed a little after 7pm, there were stil people going at it. . .
2. apparently people were suppsed to bring a garbage bag or two and help clean up afterwards. . . i helped with that a bit but bailed way before it was done. . . i did notice as i was skating off that there were a couple of city ?garbagemen? getting ready to go do some cleanup as well. . .
3. no idea on the percentages although i hear the headcount was close to 1,000 people. . . i personally would've bought one and made sure it was full of feathers, although after having been thru it i now might choose a non-feathered one 'cuz it seems like some of the feathered ones bunched up on one end and became slightly less pleasant to get hit by. . .
people had pillowcases, but i think most people had naked pillows. . . some matchy matched with clever outfits (like the girl in the red pajamas and the pink pillow at the beginning of my vid), but that was pretty rare. . . people also wrote things on their pillows but that was also pretty rare and, in the heat of the battle, not particularly noticeable. . .
4. didn't see any protests. . . did see many people before the fight wondering what was going on with all these people and their pillows. . .
5. not as far as i could tell. . .
6. don't think so. . . i think pretty much everyone realized how this was, in the end, supposed to just be really really fun and at its worst, it was just people swinging extra enthusiastically with their pillows. . . plus almost every time i got nailed by a pillow and they then noticed i was carrying a videocamera, they'd apologize. . . which was nice of them but really, they didn't have to 'cuz i was the dumbass wading thru a pillowfight with a camera. . .
i mean the fight was mellow enough to the point where there were little kids involved (albeit on the fringes) and i mean like maybe as young as six years old. . . people seemed to generally vary the strength of their swings, adjusting to how "into" it the person they were hitting was. . .
7. i like puns. . .
8. you do tell everyone about pillow fight club. . .
9. i can't think of a good pun. . .
I would not go to a pillow fight club. How do I know the participants washed their pillow cases ahead of time?
I've always wondered that about While You were Out and Trading Spaces. If you get an answer, I'd love to hear about it.
I hadn't heard about hte Pillow Fight Club - sounds cool, though!
My dream club: Aspartame Addicts. We would swim in giant pools of diet soda and talk about the joys of calorie-free beverages.
In High School my friends and I had Friday Night Dinner Club. We made dinner, generally rented some foreign/arthouse and therefore mysterious-and-good movie, and occasionally alcohol was involved.
FNDC was invite-only, meaning you couldn't just bring someone without getting permission from the group first. We were elitist, but the fact is that we were really just a buncha nerds. i doubt anyone would have been clamoring for an invite.
If I had a band of regulars, I would totally insitgate FNDC again, although I'd probably make it monthly.
Hrm...
it was nice meeting you today! katrina told me you had a website so i thought i'd check it out. funny stuff over here!
take care!
In college a friend of mine had Thursday Club, which was pretty much just a scheduled excuse to go out and drink every Thursday night. Though, actually it was kind of nice because I got to try bars in Philadelphia that I would have never considered going to otherwise.
If I were to start my own club it would be more of a support group for emotionally stable people who are being affected by emotional-bullies-in-overly-sweet-people's-clothing. But, um, that may just be a reflection of what's going on in my life these days.
And, Leah, allow me to join the chorus of people who say that they love your posts even when you're supposedly posting about nothing.
I would much prefer the tickle fight club.
I would like to start a You May Enter My Treehouse Club. Also, I would like a treehouse. Thank you for your time.
Board game club! (Nerd. Yes. I know.) Although we do have game night with friends sometimes it would be nice to have an official club. And maybe some rankings and prizes. Obviously I would win all of the prizes because I do not like to lose at board games.
Another informal gathering that I would like to formalize is Dessert Club. Everyone brings one dessert and a fork. Yum.