The Mp3 Experiment 6 - on Roosevelt Island

One has to take cues from one's children these days, and so when Jake e-mailed me about something he was planning to do on - of all places! - Roosevelt Island last Saturday, well, I just had to check it out. He told me to check out this website first: http://improveverywhere.com/2009/05/18/mp3-experiment-six-full-details/#more-1016. I did.

What to expect? We were all supposed to wear either a red, green, yellow, or blue shirt; we had to download some mysterious mp3 file - "Don't listen to it until it's time!" - and be on Roosevelt Island within a rather large green area on the map ... and then ... at exactly 4pm (our watches should have been synchronized exactly to the world clock on the website) and only then do we push the button on our iPod - and then follow directions! (Stephanie and Jake are above.)

"Hello, I'm Steve."

We weren't supposed to take pictures, because there will be pictures taken by various cameramen around the island - and I couldn't take pictures anyway because my camera was my iPhone and it was already occupied as an iPod sending me "Steve's" directions. "Turn to your left and wave, then right, then above you - wave!"

The island was really just us, although there were a few "normal" people there; mostly us red/blue/yellow/green people. "Sit down and stretch. You will have a lot to do, and we won't want you not to be loose and ready. As you're sitting, touch one sole of your feet with the other - stretch your groin. We want all our groins well stretched." No kidding!

Then - it was almost an hour of "then" following "then"! - we all square danced! With anyone, everyone - whoever was close by - or not close! Some seemed to run across the neighboring basketball court to swirl around with a desirable stranger! Whew!

Yes, Steve was looking out for us. "Now, you've probably tired yourself out a little, so it's time for a 15 second power nap. Lie down, and start napping." We did. Very nice people all around, napping for ... ah 15 seconds only.

We didn't do too many wacky things for a while except listen as we all walked down toward the southern end of the island, below the old hospital's ruins. We were listening to the story of Peters and the wolf - yes, all the boys were named Peter in this story - by way of preparation for our battle with the wolf - finally! - when most of us got inflatable bats or hammers and, after a brief red and blue against green and yellow (I think?! I didn't get my bat!), "Steve" told us all to gang up on the wolf! Yes, the wolf was coming up from the bottom of the island - and my colored (sic) friends beat him up right in front of me.

Then - that was it! Beautiful day, so we went back up whence we came, and had a beer - a pitcher of beer!
All in all we had a good time - but really! This was sort of amazing! The Official Video of this hasn't been released yet - or at least I haven't found it. Maybe it will sneak up on me ....