One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk...
November 1, 2010 8:53 PM Subscribe
Purple Burglars Burgle a Purple House I'm sure they thought they would blend right in wearing so much purple, but a petcam doesn't care what color you are wearing.
I knew violet crime was on the rise.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 8:56 PM on November 1, 2010 [126 favorites]
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 8:56 PM on November 1, 2010 [126 favorites]
this post matches!
posted by flyinghamster at 8:59 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by flyinghamster at 8:59 PM on November 1, 2010
The title of this post and Crash'a comment are just plain awesome! And there's purple!
posted by booksherpa at 9:00 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by booksherpa at 9:00 PM on November 1, 2010
Those purple belts were pretty great, though, don't you think?
posted by contessa at 9:01 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by contessa at 9:01 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
I gotta get some gloves like that. Was that a product placement?
posted by Brocktoon at 9:02 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by Brocktoon at 9:02 PM on November 1, 2010
I've never seen a purple thief
I never hope to see one...
posted by egypturnash at 9:28 PM on November 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
I never hope to see one...
posted by egypturnash at 9:28 PM on November 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
Was this in Minnesota by any chance?
posted by bwg at 9:37 PM on November 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by bwg at 9:37 PM on November 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
The burglars -- who took mostly jewelry and a National Security Agency identification card
Oh my... they are so very royally catastrophically fucked.
posted by spiderskull at 9:37 PM on November 1, 2010 [4 favorites]
Oh my... they are so very royally catastrophically fucked.
posted by spiderskull at 9:37 PM on November 1, 2010 [4 favorites]
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple AND STEAL PEOPLE'S STUFF AND CRAWL ON THE FLOOR AND PRETEND I AM A CAT WHILE I AM DOING IT
posted by not_on_display at 9:39 PM on November 1, 2010 [11 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 9:39 PM on November 1, 2010 [11 favorites]
I hear the purpletrators left Prince at the scene.
posted by PlusDistance at 9:47 PM on November 1, 2010 [36 favorites]
posted by PlusDistance at 9:47 PM on November 1, 2010 [36 favorites]
I'm assuming that's an effect from the camera, right? It's not all really that purple?
posted by immlass at 9:54 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by immlass at 9:54 PM on November 1, 2010
I like how they came in through the cat door in one house, and scratched another homeowner who interrupted them. That's some serious method acting there.
posted by Michael Roberts at 10:01 PM on November 1, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by Michael Roberts at 10:01 PM on November 1, 2010 [5 favorites]
Somewhere, deep underground, chain-smoking interrogators are growing increasingly frustrated with a subject whose only statement was "(Icon of eye) have nothing 2 say 2 U."
posted by No-sword at 10:03 PM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by No-sword at 10:03 PM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
Only one man could have masterminded this scheme...
posted by Scattercat at 10:12 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by Scattercat at 10:12 PM on November 1, 2010
but least they got the camouflage down.
If you think those clothes are good camouflage, orchidding yourself.
posted by xedrik at 10:14 PM on November 1, 2010 [6 favorites]
If you think those clothes are good camouflage, orchidding yourself.
posted by xedrik at 10:14 PM on November 1, 2010 [6 favorites]
Well, now I really know how colorblind I am; I watched the video, and all I thought was "I don't get it; I don't see any purple."
posted by davejay at 10:29 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by davejay at 10:29 PM on November 1, 2010
PURPLE!
posted by user92371 at 10:50 PM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by user92371 at 10:50 PM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
GREEN!
posted by Scattercat at 10:53 PM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 10:53 PM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
I had another mastermind in mind, Scattercat.
Anyway, that's not so much purple-on-purple crime as it is bad chromatics in a cheap cam. My phonecam does the same thing unless the light is just so.
posted by dhartung at 11:04 PM on November 1, 2010
Anyway, that's not so much purple-on-purple crime as it is bad chromatics in a cheap cam. My phonecam does the same thing unless the light is just so.
posted by dhartung at 11:04 PM on November 1, 2010
I'm assuming that's an effect from the camera, right? It's not all really that purple?
I'm wondering the same thing. Does the camera have some sort of color filter? I mean, purple belts?? What are the odds that two guys in 2010 have access to perfectly matched purple menswear ensembles? (Unless this is some hot new trend I'm behind the curve on.)
posted by biddeford at 11:09 PM on November 1, 2010
I'm wondering the same thing. Does the camera have some sort of color filter? I mean, purple belts?? What are the odds that two guys in 2010 have access to perfectly matched purple menswear ensembles? (Unless this is some hot new trend I'm behind the curve on.)
posted by biddeford at 11:09 PM on November 1, 2010
What is the point of this post? Is cjorgensen simply a crash davis sockpuppet so he could make a snappy pun? ("...there's no candidate Less Wynin'!")
Otherwise it's just a boring video of a mundane robbery. The house clearly isn't purple and the robbers clearly aren't wearing purple. It's a camera effect. Yawn.
posted by dgaicun at 11:16 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Otherwise it's just a boring video of a mundane robbery. The house clearly isn't purple and the robbers clearly aren't wearing purple. It's a camera effect. Yawn.
posted by dgaicun at 11:16 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also that purple cat is an embarrassment. They need to get one of those guard cats that wouldn't put up with this bullshit.
posted by dgaicun at 11:26 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by dgaicun at 11:26 PM on November 1, 2010
What, you guys didn't notice there was a gorilla dribbling a basketball in the middle of the video?
posted by chinston at 11:39 PM on November 1, 2010 [11 favorites]
posted by chinston at 11:39 PM on November 1, 2010 [11 favorites]
What are the odds that two guys in 2010 have access to perfectly matched purple menswear ensembles?
Has anyone seen Mel & Tim lately?
posted by pracowity at 11:57 PM on November 1, 2010
Has anyone seen Mel & Tim lately?
posted by pracowity at 11:57 PM on November 1, 2010
I'm assuming that's an effect from the camera, right? It's not all really that purple?
Oh man, good thought.
I bet what's going on here is the camera's white balance is screwed up. Maybe it doesn't have an IR filter or something so the colors are all screwed up (Dyes and stuff really tend to be different looking outside of the visible spectrum - while 'real' things don't look quite as affected). Or maybe the green got burnt out or something, or the walls are a funny color and it's trying to compensate.
I bet the guy in slacks is wearing brown pants and the guy in jeans is wearing blue jeans. And the leopard print is regular leopard print not purple fringed leopard print.
posted by aubilenon at 12:16 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh man, good thought.
I bet what's going on here is the camera's white balance is screwed up. Maybe it doesn't have an IR filter or something so the colors are all screwed up (Dyes and stuff really tend to be different looking outside of the visible spectrum - while 'real' things don't look quite as affected). Or maybe the green got burnt out or something, or the walls are a funny color and it's trying to compensate.
I bet the guy in slacks is wearing brown pants and the guy in jeans is wearing blue jeans. And the leopard print is regular leopard print not purple fringed leopard print.
posted by aubilenon at 12:16 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I would have love to be there when they found the NSA ID in that guy's wallet. I like to think they paused in a moment of pure, bewildering fear then frantically began relocating to another state/country.
posted by polyhedron at 12:47 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by polyhedron at 12:47 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I need to take this opportunity to express my general disdain for use of the term "suspect" to describe people in the act of committing a crime. A "suspect" is someone who might have done it -- if you find a guy who looks like the guy in the video, he's a suspect. A "perpetrator" is a guy actually doing the alleged crime in question.
The worst offenders here are the police reality shows with over-excited narrators working off grainy helicopter-cam footage from 1996. "Here we see the suspect driving a stolen tank into a house full of puppies!". Really? You only suspect that the guy who stole the tank and drove it in to a house full of puppies is the same one that stole the tank and drove it in to a house full of puppies?
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:30 AM on November 2, 2010 [18 favorites]
The worst offenders here are the police reality shows with over-excited narrators working off grainy helicopter-cam footage from 1996. "Here we see the suspect driving a stolen tank into a house full of puppies!". Really? You only suspect that the guy who stole the tank and drove it in to a house full of puppies is the same one that stole the tank and drove it in to a house full of puppies?
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:30 AM on November 2, 2010 [18 favorites]
San Diego 6 news (linked in the FPP): Four homes were burglarized the afternoon of Oct. 13 . . . Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
spiderskull: they are so very royally catastrophically fucked.
Royally, catastrophically and slowly fucked.
posted by IvoShandor at 3:00 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
spiderskull: they are so very royally catastrophically fucked.
Royally, catastrophically and slowly fucked.
posted by IvoShandor at 3:00 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm assuming that's an effect from the camera, right? It's not all really that purple?
Surely one would not expect to find the exact same effect on both cameras?
posted by Anything at 4:19 AM on November 2, 2010
Surely one would not expect to find the exact same effect on both cameras?
posted by Anything at 4:19 AM on November 2, 2010
While a funky camera is a better explanation than burglars with fabulous fashion sense, I have to point out the video clearly comes from two different viewpoints: one aimed at the foot of the bed and one aimed at the window. It's interesting that both produce the same effect.
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:27 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:27 AM on November 2, 2010
Metafilter: Here we see the suspect driving a stolen tank into a house full of puppies
posted by memebake at 4:50 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by memebake at 4:50 AM on November 2, 2010
God, I had amateur theatrics. They didn't capture the flavor of Alice Walker's book at all.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:20 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:20 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
My guess is that the purple outfits were just what they happened to be wearing.
But, speaking as someone who has been burgled twice, I wanted to give those assholes as purple nurple to match their threads.
posted by orange swan at 5:59 AM on November 2, 2010
But, speaking as someone who has been burgled twice, I wanted to give those assholes as purple nurple to match their threads.
posted by orange swan at 5:59 AM on November 2, 2010
Never mind the purple, what the hell are they doing from 1:20 to the end? The Cushion Crawl? Is that a thing?
posted by Wolfdog at 6:07 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by Wolfdog at 6:07 AM on November 2, 2010
Never mind the purple, what the hell are they doing from 1:20 to the end?
They are going under laser detectors. I figured this meant they had to be familiar with the house, otherwise who would know where to walk and where to crawl?
As to them not being in purple...I guess, but since the other colors don't seem to be off... Eh, makes more sense than the house being purple as well, but to have both cameras do that, while leaving the other colors fine, just seems improbable to me.
What is the point of this post? Is cjorgensen simply a crash davis sockpuppet so he could make a snappy pun?
It was a test to see if people could flag it and move on. You failed. And actually, I didn't make a pun. that was mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey. I made a high literary reference.
I bet these two are caught before this post closes.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:23 AM on November 2, 2010
They are going under laser detectors. I figured this meant they had to be familiar with the house, otherwise who would know where to walk and where to crawl?
As to them not being in purple...I guess, but since the other colors don't seem to be off... Eh, makes more sense than the house being purple as well, but to have both cameras do that, while leaving the other colors fine, just seems improbable to me.
What is the point of this post? Is cjorgensen simply a crash davis sockpuppet so he could make a snappy pun?
It was a test to see if people could flag it and move on. You failed. And actually, I didn't make a pun. that was mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey. I made a high literary reference.
I bet these two are caught before this post closes.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:23 AM on November 2, 2010
I have a feeling this video was encoded in YUV, with one chrominance component copied to the other, hence the "green-to-purple" look.
posted by surrendering monkey at 6:30 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by surrendering monkey at 6:30 AM on November 2, 2010
The 'purple' tag is surprisingly useful.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:00 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by shakespeherian at 7:00 AM on November 2, 2010
I need to take this opportunity to express my general disdain for use of the term "suspect" to describe people in the act of committing a crime.
In other words, you object to the use of purple prose to describe people who will soon be purple cons?
posted by The Bellman at 7:25 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
In other words, you object to the use of purple prose to describe people who will soon be purple cons?
posted by The Bellman at 7:25 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
I don't know whether to applaud you or punch you.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:48 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:48 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
These security cameras have no infrared cut filter a.k.a. heat mirrors, so they are sensitive to light that we cannot see ourselves -- infrared. So the cameras work with infrared LED illumination.
It also means the cameras can't represent human perceived colours properly. Most synthetic black fabrics are quite reflective in shortwave infra-red wavelengths, so you get this bizarro colour scheme.
In other words -- sorry, it's likely NOTHING is purple in that house, and CERTAINLY the burglars aren't wearing purple. It's just the way the cameras work.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:14 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
It also means the cameras can't represent human perceived colours properly. Most synthetic black fabrics are quite reflective in shortwave infra-red wavelengths, so you get this bizarro colour scheme.
In other words -- sorry, it's likely NOTHING is purple in that house, and CERTAINLY the burglars aren't wearing purple. It's just the way the cameras work.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:14 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
How have we made it this far in the discussion without anyone mentioning the whole rhythm section? You know, The Purple Gang.
posted by marxchivist at 8:23 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by marxchivist at 8:23 AM on November 2, 2010
I need to take this opportunity to express my general disdain for use of the term "suspect" to describe people in the act of committing a crime.
Ah, but we don't know this guy is actually guilty, despite the video evidence. For example, he might have been acting under duress (e.g. someone may have told him "rob that house and bring me the NSA ID card or I shoot your kid).
posted by jedicus at 11:59 AM on November 2, 2010
Ah, but we don't know this guy is actually guilty, despite the video evidence. For example, he might have been acting under duress (e.g. someone may have told him "rob that house and bring me the NSA ID card or I shoot your kid).
posted by jedicus at 11:59 AM on November 2, 2010
I've decided that I don't care for any explanation other than these guys were wearing purple to rob a purple house.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:06 PM on November 3, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by cjorgensen at 1:06 PM on November 3, 2010 [4 favorites]
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The burglars -- who took mostly jewelry and a National Security Agency identification card
Oh.
posted by malphigian at 8:56 PM on November 1, 2010 [7 favorites]