The Banditos Misteriosos of Boston did it again. Another fantastic event in the city that brought hundreds of Bostonians together. On June 28th the Banditos threw the First Annual Boston Scavenger Hunt, which was fun for its own sake. No prizes really, no cutthroat competition, just an excuse to take a lovely walking tour of the city while being a bit of a doofus.

I grew up in Massachusetts and figured after living in the Boston area for a few years, I’ve already seen all there is to see here. Well, I was totally wrong. That much I know after this scavenger hunt.  The route our team–the Tuff Muffins–took to complete the hunt ran us from Boston Common, all the way through the Back Bay, to Copley, and further south to Symphony Hall, all the way over through the South End to the Boston Center for the Arts, up through Bay Village to Chinatown, north again to Government Center and then back to the Commons.  So many of the things I saw along the route were totally new to me, and this isn’t even a sizeable chunk of the city, since we didn’t even get into neighborhoods like Roxbury, Dorchester and Jamaica Plain. Had we not run out of time, we would have made a quick stop in the North End as well. 

I’m not sure how many miles of walking that was, but I can tell you after four hours of alternately walking and jogging all that, I was wiped.

So what kind of scavenger hunt was it exactly? Well, we weren’t looking for objects, we were looking out for places. Each team of 10 people had a “passport” with a number of clues in it, and each clue referenced a location in Boston. I have to tell you, had it not been for my extremely savvy teammates I’m not sure what would have happened. Some of those clues were for some really obscure places (Pi Alley? Really?) At best I probably could have figured out a quarter of the clues, but putting our heads together my team actually figured out every single location clue.

I snagged our passport after the Hunt was over and scanned it in for posterity. You can check out all the clues on my Flickr account here: side one and side two. At each location there was a Bandito or two, ready with a task that each team had to complete. These tasks were all pretty zany, kind of a summer-camp-zany, including:

Passing a potato down a line using only your elbows (in front of the Irish Famine memorial statues):

Playing in an silent symphony (on the steps of Symphony Hall):

Writing a page of a children’s story (next to the Make Way for Ducklings statues):

Other favorite tasks of mine were the ribbon dancing in front of the Chinatown gates and handing a stranger a love letter in Post Office Square. (We all were grinning like idiots on that last one.)

We seem to have perplexed a lot of people wherever we appeared–lots of tiny flash mobs suddenly running the city made it seem like we were all in a mini-Amazing Race in Boston–but I was really heartened at how good natured Bostonians were to us during our strange tasks. The notoriously “cold” city didn’t seem that way while we were walking around. (Note that I’ve never thought of Boston as “cold” anyway, but I just figured that I’m used to its quirks by this point and haven’t noticed.) After this scavenger hunt though, I’m starting to wonder if the reputation is ill-deserved and if Boston really just needs better PR.

We passed this lovely bride and her party walking across the bridge in the Public Garden right by the swan boats.

Bay Village is picturesque but so tiny that it’s very easy to miss!

This group of men playing mahjong right by the Chinatown gates were not distracted one bit by our dancing antics.

My right knee still hasn’t forgiven me for those hours of jogging around the city, but next year I’ll be better prepared with much better shoes! Despite my wonky knee, I’m already looking forward to the Second Annual Boston Scavenger Hunt.

Seriously, what a great way to spend a Saturday in Boston. Can’t wait to see what the Banditos have in store for us next. Keep it up guys!

New entries will appear at the top of the page with events in reverse chronological order.

Other feeds to check:
My flickr account (photos)
My twitter (tiny tweets)

Newest update:

I will be at ROFLcon on Saturday! And yes, I’ll be liveblogging/posting photos from that as well. Keep an eye on this site for that entry tomorrow.

[@9:19pm] Molasses slow internet connection at Middle East Upstairs, no liveblogging from here, that’s for sure.
But I managed to upload this for you guys:

Also we just ran into the Hello Kitty Avenger of Banditos Misteriosos fame. We’re getting our wires crossed! Oh noes!

[@8:25] This might be the final post of the night–dinner time in ROFLconland, we all invaded Central Square. Go fig, Miracle of Science was packed to capacity. Ramy and I went to Phoenix Landing down the street, deathly quiet. Another go fig. We’re now at Toscanninis and ROFLlers have invaded here as well.

Ramy got a cheeseburger at the Phoenix Landing. He didn’t realize why I started laughing when he ordered it.

A cheeseburger, he can has it. Rather he can… did …has it? And he says it was delicious. Thumbs up to Phoenix Landing!

In a half hour the ROFLcon music show (yes, the ROFLconcert) will start at the Middle East Upstairs — I’ll be taking photos but won’t liveblog from this, it’ll be pretty much impossible. When I get back to my apartment in East Arlington (I’m biking back!) post-show, I’ll upload my photos and do a brief write-up for you all.

One of the highlights of my day: I got my own post on UniversalHub. Sweeeeeeeeet.

[@5:51] Q: “How do you know when you’re fucking with the matrix?”
A1: “When the CIA contacts you.”
A2: “When more people are wearing gem sweaters.”

Good answers all.

Oh sweet. ROFLcon bingo.

[@5:42] Panel opened up to questions. Previously Bubble Guy made extended comment on public space ads versus ads on TV. That was awesome. Not entirely ROFLcon-y or geeky but still really fascinating. Now Bert is Evil guy is commenting on use of his images by protesters in third world countries, etc.

[@5:35] Hey, I’ve always wanted to be in The Guardian. Well, my writing isn’t there (… yet), but one of my photos is! Huzzah!

Applause from audience when Leslie Hall asked whether anyone on the panel has major ads/banners on their sites and everyone responded no.

[@5:29] twitter reactions seem to be on the same wavelength — this panel is really odd. Bubble Project, Gem Sweater, Bert is Evil guys are very interesting. The rest of the panel… I don’t get it. Plus moderator questions are unfocused. Ramy turned to me and asked: “Can we get a nominative definition of ‘pwnage’?” I agree.

I mean, what does this mean: “How do you think schools can integrate pwnage into the classroom?” Seriously. Someone explain this to me.

[@5:20] Sorry for slowing updates — battery keeps dying and outlets are scarce. I camped out at one and now things are better.

Am at the PWNing for the good of mankind panel. Bubble Project guy worked at Saatchi&Saatchi — that’s brilliant.

This is a much calmer discussion than the LOLpanel. Some of the questions: “How did you become internet famous? Were you trying to pwn” Hmm.

Also, ROFLcondom.



Hah. Like any of the geeks at ROFLcon are going to need these.

This is a weird panel I have to say — not really sure what the focus is here (kind of a scattershot panel gathering). Why is the ACLU in on a discussion of pwning? I would expect a bunch of lvl70 rogue with epix to be in on this discussion… not so much iJustine. *shrug*

[@3:46] OM NOM NOMed greasy calzone (yays), am at “I Can Haz Case Study” panel of the LOLcat/LOLspinoff phenomenon.

Quote of the panel: “What is it about cats? What is it about them that makes them so LOLable?”
ICanHasCheezburger.com CEO talks about the diversity of cat-related reactions. I wonder if Cat Fancy really IS here as I keep hearing they are? So many cat-quotable moments…great, now I miss my cat!

LOLphenom made up of “overwhemingly female” contributors? Does that contribute to the popularity of LOLcats in general asks LOLcode dude. This is a very philosophical conversation, given the topic at hand!

The LOLpanel with Tron Guy in the audience.

Obtained ticket to tonight’s internet meme music concert. Very, VERY happy about seeing Group X!

[@2:01pm] Latest Tweet: “awkward gender conversation sprung on unsupecting panel, but it was handled well. time for lunch: OM NOM NOM”

Explanation: The keynote turned to a discussion of race and gender — why was the panel all young white guys? Isn’t the internet the great equalizer? It’s an interesting discussion to have though I think the panelists were rather flummoxed by it — things got awkward mighty fast. I’m as sick as the “THERE ARE NO GIRLS ON THE INTERNETS!!11″ joke as the next chica but I don’t believe these guys were prepared to speak on that topic –keynote was about making money online, not gender/race dynamics of the internet.

Still, I think it was inevitable someone was going to bring it up. But boy oh boy, the angst was palpable once someone asked that question.

Lunch break time now, Ramy is here and we’re going to grab something to eat. All I had this morning was a tiny thing of yogurt and then a gut-churning can of narsty Brawndo–after a half hour bike at 9am and many hours of sitting around, I am ready to gnaw my damn arm off. See you at the 3:30pm panel!

[@1:24pm] Interesting keynote. Panelists: Million Dollar website guy, One Red Paperclip guy, JibJab, RocketBoom, Chuck Norris facts, Marmaduke Explained.

You come away feeling so, so much of internet “fame” is pure dumb luck. You put your content out there and spin the roulette wheel. Some of the panelists are more surprised that they’re up there than I would have believed! (Especially Chuck Norris facts guy. He’s been sued?!? Poor dude. We should start a pool for his defense. FTW)

Says the Chuck Norris Facts guy: “I’m completely 100% a fluke.” Honesty!

I wonder… what really is the takeaway from this? It’s fascinating insights but not much actionable knowledge here. Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised about it though. (And not that I’m looking to become famous on the internet.)

My laptop battery is near-dead and I have a gnarly headache from the Brawndo (avoid avoid avoid). I think it also gave me a heart murmur. Yeesh.

Fun fact: Stuff White People Like guy grew up near Greektown in Toronto. Yay! He says “gyro” correctly. Props man, props.

[@12:35pm] Keynote about to start — guess who I’m sitting behind?

LEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNKINS just introduced himself as the MC for ROFLcon.

BEST. MC. EVAR.

I wonder what he drops if we gank him onstage….

[@ 11:39] And now Christian Lander of Stuff White People Like! I freaking love his blog. We’re asking about how he came up with his blog. “It was entirely a fluke… didn’t expect any of this.” His site was picked up almost instantly since he started it–shows when you have a really good concept, people will find out about it!

I told him about the Asian Girls entry and how a friend (an Asian girl) sent me a link to his blog and how bizarre that was.

He then asked me why I don’t have a Mac (EVERYONE liveblogging ROFLcon is on a Mac but me, it’s kind of pathetic).

He’s the third person to sit in what we’re now calling the meme chair.

[@11:35]
Alex Tew got out of one seat, Kyle MacDonald (One Red Paperclip) sat down. What is this, the meme seat? He’s presenting at 1pm.

Aaaand Denny Blaze just walked by. O_o

[@ 10:42 a.m.]
Registered! Got my schwag, badge. Biked over to Cambridge from Arlington– a great ride on a beautiful day, but it only ended up taking about 25 minutes (a lot shorter than I’d predicted!) so I got here awfully early, wayyyy before they were ready for registrants.

First girl in line though, w00t. (Geek cred +1000)

Now we’re all chugging Brawndo (this stuff is uber-YELLOW) and twittering or updating blogs. Poor MIT wifi server, it’s going to get hammered today. Caffeinated geekery.
Lots of Firefox stuff around, he’s our hero~

I’m hearing squeals from people recognize their favorite internet celebs. It’s a very surreal who’s who. Seeing Tron Guy in meatspace, whoa. What?

This whole thing is going to get liveblogged to death, isn’t it? Worse than SXSW, I’m thinking.
Lots of college students from the area around here. At 24 I feel a bit old in this crowd.

Already ran into Wired, heard NYT and NPR are wandering around as well. Just saw the Reddit dudes too.

Man, this Brawndo stuff. Dyes your skin yellow if you drip. But but! It’s got ELECTROLYTES.

Am still trying to decide which panels to go to.

Schwag obtained:

Freakin’ love the lunchbox.

Also, lots of free stickers (Firefox ones from Japan–CHOUUU KAWAIII) and as much Brawndo as we can chug.

ROFLconners — did you bring your DSes with you for PictoChatting? I didn’t, though I’m wondering if I should bring mine tomorrow. Pictochat? Anyone? Anyone?

OMG. I’m sitting right across the coffee table of Alex Tew (the Million Dollar Homepage guy). *___* Whaaaat!

Anime Boston has been going on all weekend—it started on Friday and today, Saturday, is the biggest day with all the headline events. I was there to take pictures of my friend Ger in her costume (she was Tifa from the video game Final Fantasy 7) and to attend the EXTREMELY awesome concert by The Pillows. But more on that later.

At 2pm sharp on a clear afternoon, an airhorn sounded on Copley Square and hundreds of people of all ages started thwacking each other on the head with fluffy pillows. It was a beautiful sight. And there were tons of people to see it since the event was thoroughly hyped in local media and, at times, it seemed the number of gawkers and photographers far outnumbered the actual pillow-fighters. But that didn’t really matter since it was still a real hoot.

Fair warning! Oodles of photos to follow:

Turnout was really amazing. The last pillow fight was at most 100 people, this time it was easily 500 or so with about the same number of onlookers. Many of the costumed kids at Anime Boston made their way to this event, so the pillow fighters were definitely a colorful crowd.

My favorite scene at the pillow fight was one of the costumed Banditos running around the crowd, waving the state flag of Massachusetts. A standard-bearer and a target! To my surprise, he ran up to me a few minutes into the event and called my name. Ends up, under the mask, it was a friend of mine who had recently joined the ranks of the Banditos Misteriosos. He was so kind to oblige me by posing with the flag—now that’s Massachusetts pride!

Many people saw me talking to one of the Banditos and asked me what political cause this rally was for. What’s sad is that nobody seemed convinced when I told them this was just for fun. I’m not sure if it speaks to the level of cynicism in our society or just the extreme silliness of the event. Probably both, huh?

Unfortunately I couldn’t stay very long, and I heard the event lasted until about 3pm, which sounds about right. The pillow fight on the Common last December went for about a half hour, but the crowd was a lot smaller and we got tired only 15 minutes into it or so.

I’m really, really glad that the Banditos Misteriosos are around. Anything to help Boston shake its stodgy reputation is most welcome in my book.

So yes, as I mentioned earlier, my friend Ger and I were at Anime Boston for the day. The highlight was definitely the concert by THE PILLOWS. This is an awesome punk/rock group hailing from Hokkaido that has earned a lot of international acclaim: They’ve played SXSW and have toured in the U.S. several times at major music halls like the Knitting Factory in NYC. Basically The Pillows is one of the few groups from Japan that pretty much anyone who listens to rock nowadays has heard of, and for good reason, because they are freakin’ fantastic.

Almost all of the attendees of Anime Boston lined up to hear them and we filled the Hynes Convention Center main event hall to near-capacity—that’s almost 4,000 people. For a good hour they had everyone on their feet, cheering, hopping and singing along with brand-new tunes as well as classic crowd-pleasers, like “Ride on Shooting Star.” If you’ve never heard it, you really should.

Unfortunately photos were not allowed, so I don’t have any pictures of the concert. Ger and I were also at the very far back of the balcony so photos would have turned out quite poorly anyway. All that mattered was the music, and believe me, it reached us loud and clear even way in back!

Rock on, Pillows. \m/