Comments on: Catching Up With an Aqua Teen Terrorist

By: Ryan of the RSL Music Blog - Boston

Ryan of the RSL Music Blog - Boston — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:47:27 +0000

Sitting in traffic, waiting for the light to change in Waltham, MA (Boston MetroWest suburb) I saw Zebbler recently - it was probably late summer or early fall. I felt this urge to lean out the window and yell. “What’s up dude?!”

I never get starstruck (I have met tons of famous people and most of them are nowhere near as cool or funny as your own friends….) - I paused - and thought of the whole Boston LED-gate incident. Seeing Zebbler back on the street - again an ordinary dude made me consider our modern times.

It’s an interesting case of celebrity. It wasn’t intentional or criminal. They literally just got thrust into the spotlight.

“What’s up Dude?”

The link above will direct you to the story I wrote on Boston’s Day of Infamy. Rock on!

By: illlich

illlich — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:35:19 +0000

I think the insanity of the whole situation is best exemplified by the State Policeman who asked him if he really “meant to blow up Boston” (insane!– the police found no explosives and yet cling to the idea that there was a bomb threat!)– the authorities believe their own hype, or perhaps some kind of “hype feedback loop” created by the police and media together.

I think it is also a mistake to point at Boston as some epicenter for this kind of thing. There have indeed been two incidents of this type there, but I think it’s really a symptom of our irrational fears over terrorism nationwide, and more of these kinds of “hoaxes” will follow elsewhere (see the Steve Kurtz story reported on this blog previously). To a certain extent it’s a symptom of a police state: any threat, real or imagined, must be acted upon immediately and harshly, because after all (using FoxNEWS logic), if we’re not arresting the terrorists, we must be supporting them.

By: disinfo.com

disinfo.com — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:36:48 +0000

RU Sirius: Catching Up With an Aqua Teen Terrorist…

‘February 1, 2007: a day that will live in infamy. The great city of Boston was brought to its knees by the appearance of unexpected L.E.D. placards in places where they didn’t belong. An interview with one of the evildoers.’…

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:44:27 +0000

Honestly, the “70’s haircuts” was the only part I really remembered. :) Brilliant.

By: Markus Booster

Markus Booster — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 17:06:11 +0000

For what’s worth, I thought the “70’s style haircut” thing was P.R. genius. I remember hearing on the news that day about Boston being shutdown over a terrorist plot, then later when news of the press conference surfaced it immediately changed my perception of who these people were. Not that it invoked admiration by any means, but it was definitely non-threatening. Certainly more effective than just a “no comment”, which would just let a causal observer to think the worst.

By: bomber

bomber — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:41:27 +0000

thanks z… my next real bomb will be like your aquablablashit

By: stalwart

stalwart — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 10:45:50 +0000

If it’s not an American flag, it’s probably a bomb.

By: Catching Up With The Aqua Teen Terrorist at memoirs on a rainy day

Catching Up With The Aqua Teen Terrorist at memoirs on a rainy day — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 10:22:52 +0000

[...] An interview with Zebbler, the man behind the Aqua Teen terrorism in Boston. These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

By: Max

Max — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 08:18:28 +0000

The movie failed because it had a terrible title. Nobody wants to see a colon movie.

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:53:39 +0000

Actually, it started on January 31st, not February 1st.

As for trying to undo the media’s fearmongering, I wish you very good luck.

If you want more people to watch your movies, though, I think you’ll have to make more sympathetic characters that people can actually identify with. Everyone on ATHF is an asshole with the possible exception of Frylock, so it falls flat. Ditch the grossout factor, too. I’m not 12, it’s just not amusing any more. If you want to use it effectively, you have to counter-balance it. Look at Higurashi no naka koro ni (English title: “When They Cry”) to see how they alternate between beautiful surroundings and hyper-cuteness back to horrific violence and torture by the same, cute characters when they’ve snapped. There’s also more behind the story, whereas with ATHF you can watch one episode, understand what the rest are like, and then skip them because you’re not missing a thing. ATHF only engages you on a visceral level and it doesn’t even do that well. That’s why it’s a flop.

I’m not saying you have to insert philosophical diatribes or something, but it feels like you’re watching the mental equivalent of TV static. You can only be entertained by that for so long, even if, like me, you don’t have a life.