Mooninites

Unbeknownst to me, much of Boston was apparently in a tizzy over what appeared to be bombs on bridges, buildings, and other public fixtures yesterday. Two men were arrested and then, released today. Essentially with no charges pressed.

The "bombs" in question were LED signs advertising the Adult Swim cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force and officials here in Massachusetts are talking about pressing charges and calling the thing a "terror hoax".

Now I don't know about you, but I would think a bomb would look, well, dangerous. Not like this (Yes, I'm linking to a blog. Yes, I'm essentially violating unspoken laws of blogiquette. Deal.) I also think that it's funny that nobody noticed them for what I understand to be 2 weeks before the entire state went into an uproar and people like Boston Mayor Thomas Menino began demanding hat the FCC revoke the broadcast lisence for Cartoon Network parent company Turner Broadcasting. That's just absurd to me.

How paranoid are we going to get? Is every little thing going to set us off and is this really the appropriate response? Who's to say that this is really the appropriate response as well? Sure, the devices were under bridges and in subway stations and that's not really appropriate in the post-9/11 world considering that the devices could, possibly, in the right light look something almost but not quite a bomb. Maybe. And I'm suspending a lot of disbelief here.

I'm personally surprised at the threats being leveled at the two men who put up the devices. In terms of a viral marketing scheme, it's great. These little, ubiquitous, shiny things that "flip you off" as you walk by are exactly the kind of irreverent humor that Adult Swim propagates, when they aren't playing anime, and of which I think we could all use more in our lives.

In the pursuit of humor, it seems that the funny are losing more and more.

P.s. No, I do not count myself as funny. I try too hard.

P.P.s. Narf.