San Francisco Freeze, A Synchronized Snafu

posted by Scott Beale on Monday, February 18th, 2008

Inspired by Improv Everywhere’s amazing Frozen Grand Central event last month, where a couple hundred people froze in place at Grand Central Station for five minutes, San Francisco Freeze is being organized for 3:15pm on Saturday, February 23rd at Cable Car Turnaround in San Francisco.

The San Francisco event is slightly different than the NYC event, participants will freeze and unfreeze as they hear “the sound”.

San Francisco Freeze

Powell and Market
February 23rd @ 3:15 PM

Every time you hear “the sound” freeze in place, hear the sound again resume walking, hear the sound again freeze in place, resume walking…and on and on…

Email with any questions and for a head count at SFfreeze@gmail.com

There are also “Freeze” events scheduled for this Saturday in San Diego and Boston which are being organized through Improv Everywhere Global. Last Saturday people froze in place in London and Toronto.

UPDATE 1: The organizer of the event is looking for someone to shoot video. If interested, contact SFfreeze@gmail.com.

UPDATE 2: Kyte will be doing live streaming from the event.

- Kyte Live Stream of San Francisco Freeze

- BarCamp San Francisco & San Francisco Geek Week

- Pillow Fight Returns to San Francisco

- The Sound of Young America Live in San Francisco

- 207 People Simultaneously Freeze In Place at Grand Central Station

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filed under: Events, Pranks, San Francisco

this blog post was written by Scott Beale on Monday, February 18th, 2008

Viewing 11 Comments

Kevin M 02/19/2008 09:30 AM 1 point
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Here's the facebook event: http://brandeis.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2161...

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http://www.omgbikes.com

Pseudoreid 02/19/2008 06:22 PM 1 point
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Can't SF flashmobbers think of something that hasn't been done already by NYC?

Seriously! What about creating an impromptu sculpture?

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http://www.1million1shot.blogspot.com

sticky 02/19/2008 07:22 PM 1 point
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@ Pseudoreid:

Totally. SF is being completely unoriginal - we should do something *different*, not played out.

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Alex Mann 02/19/2008 08:17 PM 1 point
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I actually disagree. Most Things are endlessly recreated and reinterpreted. Most flash mobs are exactly that; recreations of earlier ones...The Pillow Fight, The Public Marching Band, The Spontaneous Applause, The Urban Iditerod, Zombie Mobs. I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with trying to "one-up" the next group, but if you have an idea, you should most definitely try and execute it as opposed to comment negatively about another one in a blog...

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Pseudoreid 02/20/2008 01:04 PM 1 point
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@ Alex Mann

I don't mean to be completely negative, but I can't help but voice my opposition to remaining stagnant and forgetting to remain innovative. I understand the concept that there's nothing new under the sun, however, some are clearly obvious repeats of others.

I love the idea of flashmobs and culture jamming, but I feel that they are now being interpreted as a novelty, and not as an artistic idea. Furthermore, the gatherings of which I have participated in have been poorly organized, which frustrates those who did show up to have some fun. Flashmobs need a strong leader who can quickly and succinctly explain what's going to happen without sounding like a government official.

I challenge the SF community to better align their thinking and concept some truly unique flashmobs/culture jams. I for one would love to leave an element of semi-permanency during an event that is fleeting and spontaneous, hence the idea of creating a public sculpture. I want to remain somewhat socially disruptive without becoming a permanent nuisance to officials.

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http://www.1million1shot.blogspot.com

Bueno Appetito 02/21/2008 12:55 PM 1 point
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Hey let's do it again and again and again and again....

Nothing is better than the first time! But not in the American way here. Pseudoreid and others are just interested in publicity and outdoing what others have done before.... constant competition, neither are a good solution. Just do of yourself with a group of friends... it will become a legend if that's what you're after.

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Joe Casserly 02/21/2008 04:38 PM 1 point
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There's always a critic; that's the easy part. Do something original yourself, or just "do" something rather than complaining. I'm grateful that somebody's doing anything. The event sounds fun. I'm sure that I'll have a good time and so will many others. "My" experience will be unique.

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gail 02/25/2008 02:39 AM 1 point
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i actually do not mind being negative. the posers who think this sort of thing is funny or cool have never had an original thought anyway.

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Joe Casserly 02/25/2008 12:03 PM 1 point
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Remember: If you cannot create anything beautiful, the second best thing is to tell everybody how ugly everything is.

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Jimson Varley 02/25/2008 06:32 PM 1 point
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If you think of the Grand Central freeze as a work of art, then redoing it in SF is exactly
as creative as a xerox of the Mona Lisa.

If you think of the Grand Central freeze as the script of a play, then redoing it in SF
is exactly as creative as staging Romeo and Juliette.

just a question of perspective. I do wish more people wanted to be sculptors than
actors, though.

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Joe Casserly 02/25/2008 07:35 PM 1 point
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If I took the image of the Mona Lisa, ran it through PShop so that it was a crisp duotone, made the blacks red, printed out hundreds of copies, and built a giant mondala, would that be "copying"? At what point does the new diverge from the old? Not everyone is an artist; some are just enthusiastic. Regardless, the attempt makes the world a brighter place.

I had a great time "freezing" in the rain. Did NY do it in the rain with oodles of umbrellas? What about the girl half way through her French fry for five minutes?

Some consider trashing others an art form. Are we just getting catty here?

Wishing others were more creative than they are is a waste of your own creative forces. Let it go.

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San Francisco Freeze, A Synchronized Snafu

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