As your primary news source, Mindflowers has diligently reported on the upcoming International Pillow Fight Day to be held on March 22nd. A preliminary pillow fight flash mob was held last weekend at a park in Seattle. According to a Seattle Parks Department press release:
On Saturday a flash mob left Ballard’s Bergen Place covered with feathers after a pillow fight and on Sunday night vandals scrawled graffiti across several structures in Discovery Park. These two weekend incidents took 10 hours of staff time to clean up.
On Saturday afternoon, about 50 people converged on downtown Ballard’s Bergen Place for a spirited pillow fight. After about five minutes, feathers covered the entire park. Participants left soon after that without picking up after themselves. Parks maintenance crews spent six hours cleaning up the mess and a Parks security officer is trying to track down the organizer and other participants.
Mindflowers proposes that, if caught, the evil pillow fight perpetrators be immediately shipped to Guantanamo Bay to be sexually molested and detained for the rest of their sorry, pitiful lives without being charged. And their friends and family members should all be given water-boarding torture to find out what they know (hopefully something about the meaning of life). And, to avoid future 9/11′s, pillows SHOULD NOT be allowed on airplanes.
In conclusion, be conscientious about your pillow fighting. Unless you prefer hell to heaven. I know I do.
March 21, 2008 at 8:43 am
Yeah, yeah, the Stranger made a big deal about it. It was completely overblown. We do pick up all the trash in the area (bags used to conceal pillows, pieces of pillowcases, etc.) but we’ve never had an issue with the feathers. Of course, we’ve never had 3 pillows burst before. Yes, all the feathers were from THREE pillows. The feathers usually just scatter in the wind. Birds and animals use them for their nests and they nourish the soil as they decompose. The Parks Dept employees reported that it took them 6 hours to sweep the feathers up off the concrete of that little park. Difficult to believe, as it takes much less time for the SF Parks Dept to clean up after the HUGE SF Pillow Fights each year. (The organizer in charge of their clean up said it takes one crew, 1 hour!) But, hey, I still volunteered 6 hours of my own time to do some community clean up and so have about 15 other p. fighters. This will WAY MORE than off-set the cost/time involved in our clean up. We’re not litterers. I did kinda like feeling “on the lam” though…
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Spoke with The Mayor’s office as well as Seattle Parks and Rec. They were very supportive of the fights, impressed that we offered our own time to help around the city on a weekend, and surprised about all the negative press. I am, officially, an “excellent citizen” again. (Will someone please make me a sash??) The head of Seattle Parks and Rec wants to come out and fight
So, come fight on Sarurday!! We have more support than ever. Please-oh-please, bring a foam pillow, or just stuff it with human hair or something. Just no feathers. I’ve always fought with foam, it’s the compassionate choice (<— says the vegan.)
Duck and Cover!!