FAMW: Ben Aaron Does The Dance Walk, Baby!

This is one of those things that a) could only happen in New York City, and b) my son Paul would do on a dare, and if serious money was involved. WNBC-TV personality Ben Aaron shows us the new as of two years ago dance craze he calls “Dance Walking Fitness” while getting complete strangers to join him, if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Rembrandt Flashmob “The Night Watch”

You remember the 1642 painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) commonly known by the title above, but less well known as “The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out,” don't you? Sure you do. Have you ever wanted to see the painting come to life? What devotee of the great masters of Renaissance painting wouldn't?

Here it is for your viewing pleasure, at a shopping mall in the Netherlands, complete with some guy stealing a chicken, guards rappelling down from the ceiling, other guards carrying big sticks not knowing what to do at first, still other guards riding horses in the aforementioned shopping mall, and a soundtrack written one-hundred-and-forty-three years later -- all for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Improv Everywhere: “Black Tie Beach”

Need a quick gimmick for the Labor Day weekend?

For the Fourth Annual Black Tie Beach, produced and directed by those madcaps at Improv Everywhere, hundreds of participants spent a day at the beach in black tie attire. They covered Coney Island and Brighton Beach with a diverse group of people of all ages laying out, playing games, and swimming in the ocean in formal wear. Agents were instructed to find cheap tuxedos and ball gowns at thrift stores for the occasion. Unfortunately, they were not aware that black tie before six in the evening (except for Fourth Degree Honor Guards of the Knights of Columbus) is totally inappropriate. But here it is, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

Have a great holiday weekend. "Summer's almost gone, winter's comin' on ..."
 

FAMW: Tchaikovsky Flashwaltz

Forty students from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance took a classical approach to the flashmob as they flashwaltzed Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers at the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower in Jerusalem. Doctors, patients and passers-by joined in the fun. Yes, we do love our flashmobs here at man with black hat, and wouldn't miss a chance to show one off, especially when it comes to this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

"Flashwaltz." That's a new one.
 

FAMW: Obligatory Vatican Flash Mob

The entire staff here at man with black hat can't stop thinking about the new pope. So they barge into my office, you see, and they tell me: “Yo! Mighty Black-Hatted One, we humbly beg to show your legion of fans a flash mob in St Peter’s Square.” I told them, fine, do a search on YouTube already, just quit being a bunch of suck-ups and get the hell out of my office.

This was the best they could do, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: The Big Bang Theory “Call Me Maybe” Flash Mob

It has been arguably the most overplayed pop song for the past year, which did not hurt its chances at the recent Grammy Awards. It should come as no surprise, then, that television's Kings (and Queens) of the Geeks would make the most of the trend by overdoing the recording by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen (written by Jepsen and Tavish Crowe as a folk song ... say what???) even more, and involving the production crew. (Probably a union thing.) It's a little late getting published in this venue, as this is no ordinary week for yours truly (and we'll explain that later).

For now, enjoy that which is better late than never, and that which is this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Obligatory Pro-Life Flash Mob

We never thought we could find anything comedic with a pro-life theme, when come late in the day, there it was, a scene from responding to a "Walk For Choice" rally in Chicago in February of 2011. (Please note the "Shire" theme song from Lord of the Rings.) The youth assembled inconspicuously around the plaza before the rally hiding their giant yellow balloons in black trash bags. When the "choice" people had assembled, the youth prompted by music coming from a backpack sound system, then proceeded to unveil the helium balloons imprinted with the word “LIFE.”

We'll leave you with that for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Dominicans Gone Bananas!

It was a December night on the mean streets of Chinatown here in the Nation's capital. A group of Dominican Friars were hanging out on a street corner (way past Compline, one can only imagine), singing polyphonic motets and just asking for trouble. It came soon enough, in the form of a pack of Dancing Bananas. Things could have gotten ugly, and yet, 'tis the season of goodwill, as is evident for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

(H/T to Kathleen Pluth of Chant Cafe.)
 

FAMW: Obligatory Black Friday Flash Mob

No one in their right mind would get into a crowded fistfight to save a few bucks over an iPod that's going to be obsolete by this time next year. But this time last year, in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, the folks at contemporary Christian KKJM “Spirit 92.9” Radio tried to save a few souls at Walmart the only way they knew how. It was the least we could do for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

Return To Seattle: Day 7

I went through Kayak.com to make my flight reservations. It was AirTran on the way to Seattle, United on the way back. The difference was night and day.

I use a walking cane to go any great distance, or when taking public transportation, due to a minor back injury a year ago. Upon seeing my cane, AirTran was forced to remove me from a window seat that had extra room, because it was near an exit. All well and good, as I made an error in seat choices, don't ask me how. I just thought I needed the room, and was sure I had reserved an aisle seat. But they put me in a cramped window seat elsewhere (NOT an aisle seat), such that I could barely move. The second leg of the trip was a mild improvement. I had to pay a fee for wireless as before, but no meal was served.

United served meals. United let me board first for even a mild disability. United didn't pressure me to check my luggage at the gate because they were fully booked, while letting other passengers who did NOT meet the carry-on requirements get off easily. United also sold meals on the plane.

Next time I'm trying to avoid small carriers,especially for trips of more than two hours, and/or which are not non-stop. I don't know about anyone else's experience, but there was little difference in the price between the two airlines. I'm going to keep that in mind.

I may also start taking my traveling guitar again. One person took theirs on the plane with United, without a case. They actually tried to accommodate them. Maybe they remember what happened when they didn't.

So now I'm home, one hour after touching down, which was fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. More thoughts on savvy traveling later ...
 

FAMW: “¡Som Sabadell!”

This year is the 130th anniversary of the founding of Banco Sabadell, which wouldn't mean much to you unless you were from Spain. But it did inspire their "We Are Sabadell" campaign, which culminated two months ago in over one hundred people from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l'Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs, playing and singing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" in the middle of a town square.

Too bad you can't dance to it, but it's the best we could dredge up for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.