Mama Shaq!
May 5, 2011 11:54 AM Subscribe
It is that time of year again... And Scav Hunt has begun!
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous University of Chicago ScavHunt, which taks place every year on Mother's day weekend. They are also trying to set a record for the World's Largest Scavenger Hunt.
This year's list.
Previously.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous University of Chicago ScavHunt, which taks place every year on Mother's day weekend. They are also trying to set a record for the World's Largest Scavenger Hunt.
This year's list.
Previously.
I never participated in Scav and kept pretty distant from the related goings-on. I'd always know when it had started, though, because there would be the inexplicable DeLorean parked in the middle of the quad or some dude running around in a prom dress. It's good for injecting an extra bit of crazy into your day.
posted by phunniemee at 12:19 PM on May 5, 2011
posted by phunniemee at 12:19 PM on May 5, 2011
I knew about it before, but 2 years ago when guys started coming into the shop where I work offering me RIDICULOUS THINGS ("Take my car keys! I PROMISE I'LL BRING IT BACK") in exchange for a literary gag item we have in the store, I became obsessed. Intelligent ridiculousness will always have a place in my heart.
posted by bibliogrrl at 12:25 PM on May 5, 2011
posted by bibliogrrl at 12:25 PM on May 5, 2011
I did this in 1992. I was the one covered in cereal and drenched with a gallon of milk. That stands out much more than the two hours I spent trying to teach myself how to read braille.
posted by yellowcandy at 12:28 PM on May 5, 2011
posted by yellowcandy at 12:28 PM on May 5, 2011
A friend of mine drank a shot glass of sweat. The list said it could be anyone's sweat (the obvious choice is to drink your own sweat), but this dude went around the gym and just asked people to wring out their shirts.
posted by phunniemee at 12:40 PM on May 5, 2011
posted by phunniemee at 12:40 PM on May 5, 2011
It specified human sweat.
posted by phunniemee at 12:44 PM on May 5, 2011
posted by phunniemee at 12:44 PM on May 5, 2011
Couldn't we just start fuckyeahmamashaqmamashaqshaqsyourmomthatsafact.tumblr.com ?
posted by maryr at 12:56 PM on May 5, 2011
posted by maryr at 12:56 PM on May 5, 2011
Mama Shaq, Mama Shaq, Shaq's your mom, that's a fact would have to be linked several times, at least.
I was a several-time competitor (and once organizer) on an Engineering Week scavenger hunt; something like this. The key was to go for creativity; if you couldn't get something legit, fake it up for half points. Sort of like engineering exams, now that I think about it. That, and tell people you're asking about being on a scavenger hunt. I remember the guy at the KFC who was totally pumped to help me reassemble a complete bird; he was super-helpful, making sure there was the right set of parts in my order.
The main thing I learned as an organizer, though, is don't ask for things you don't want to see. We put "hairiest back" on the list; why it never occurred to us that we would then be required to examine several very hairy backs is beyond me.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 1:29 PM on May 5, 2011
I was a several-time competitor (and once organizer) on an Engineering Week scavenger hunt; something like this. The key was to go for creativity; if you couldn't get something legit, fake it up for half points. Sort of like engineering exams, now that I think about it. That, and tell people you're asking about being on a scavenger hunt. I remember the guy at the KFC who was totally pumped to help me reassemble a complete bird; he was super-helpful, making sure there was the right set of parts in my order.
The main thing I learned as an organizer, though, is don't ask for things you don't want to see. We put "hairiest back" on the list; why it never occurred to us that we would then be required to examine several very hairy backs is beyond me.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 1:29 PM on May 5, 2011
This morning on my way to work I saw two people running hurriedly past me carrying a human skeleton dressed up in a hoodie and pants. Then, I passed by three people in top hats packing yarn and energy drinks into the back of a car. Every time Scav comes around, I feel like I'm walking through a socially awkward person's wish-fulfilment dream sequence.
posted by adso at 4:43 PM on May 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by adso at 4:43 PM on May 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
Wow another post about scav hunt!
I was captain of the winning team in 2004 and 2005. Let me just say that reading the list does not give you any real idea of the intensity of the mayhem that is scavhunt. It is one of those transcendent experiences that change a person forever. Here are some things I did:
1. Wore underwear on my chin for an entire day, the same year I had pen15 written on my arm for four days.
2. Created two different representations, in two different years, of vagina dentata. One was a talking puppet, one was a giant cookie.
3. Stayed up all night building a sombrero with a 23 ft. diameter. That a person could wear.
4. Dropped a 3 ft. water balloon off the roof of a campus building.
5. Built a water weenie large enough to crawl through.
6. Threw a party for 1,000 people on the main quad. While wearing a nurse costume. I don't remember why.
7. Got a downtown building to spell out "SH" (our dorm intitials) in lights.
8. Performed a "bee dance" to communicate the location of a local restaurant.
9. Created a zooetrope depicting my own conception.
10. Made an actual clockwork orange.
11. Tried to memorize all of the scavhunt lists from all of the previous years. It didn't go so well.
But mostly I oversaw and assisted other people's mayhemous projects, because as captain it was my job to connect people with the appropriate resources and keep everyone's energy up.
The first year we won I surveyed the scene in and in front of our dorm the night before judgment day. There were literally a hundred people scattered about me, each doing something weird and difficult to explain. I knew we were going to win and it was the best feeling, though it's hard to explain why anyone would care about such randomness until you have done it.
I wish I had the time and energy to devote to it this year, it was one of the best things I have ever done.
posted by mai at 5:17 PM on May 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
I was captain of the winning team in 2004 and 2005. Let me just say that reading the list does not give you any real idea of the intensity of the mayhem that is scavhunt. It is one of those transcendent experiences that change a person forever. Here are some things I did:
1. Wore underwear on my chin for an entire day, the same year I had pen15 written on my arm for four days.
2. Created two different representations, in two different years, of vagina dentata. One was a talking puppet, one was a giant cookie.
3. Stayed up all night building a sombrero with a 23 ft. diameter. That a person could wear.
4. Dropped a 3 ft. water balloon off the roof of a campus building.
5. Built a water weenie large enough to crawl through.
6. Threw a party for 1,000 people on the main quad. While wearing a nurse costume. I don't remember why.
7. Got a downtown building to spell out "SH" (our dorm intitials) in lights.
8. Performed a "bee dance" to communicate the location of a local restaurant.
9. Created a zooetrope depicting my own conception.
10. Made an actual clockwork orange.
11. Tried to memorize all of the scavhunt lists from all of the previous years. It didn't go so well.
But mostly I oversaw and assisted other people's mayhemous projects, because as captain it was my job to connect people with the appropriate resources and keep everyone's energy up.
The first year we won I surveyed the scene in and in front of our dorm the night before judgment day. There were literally a hundred people scattered about me, each doing something weird and difficult to explain. I knew we were going to win and it was the best feeling, though it's hard to explain why anyone would care about such randomness until you have done it.
I wish I had the time and energy to devote to it this year, it was one of the best things I have ever done.
posted by mai at 5:17 PM on May 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'm working on Scav right now and am pleased and delighted to see this on Metafilter! Scav is basically the greatest thing ever, and it's hard for me to understand why anyone doesn't want to participate in it. I'm writing a epic poem in heroic couplets of the Cain-and-Abel-esque struggle between L-DOPA and D-DOPA (item 97), making a 1980s power suit that will shoot spikes out of its shoulder pads (item 137), and painting Cheney naked and riding a Kraken (item 253). I'm so happy I go to this institution.
Anyways, I could go on, but I need to go make a giant Godzilla head out of paper mache.
posted by flawsekno at 10:16 PM on May 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
Anyways, I could go on, but I need to go make a giant Godzilla head out of paper mache.
posted by flawsekno at 10:16 PM on May 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
I never participated in scav, but I happened to be sitting on a bench on the quad with some friends at midnight the night scav started. As soon as the bells of Rockefeller Chapel tolled midnight, about 20-30 large, bearded men in ratty t-shirts burst out of the bushes and started sprinting full-speed across the quad in various directions while frantically screaming code words into walkie-talkies. It took us a few seconds to realize that this was scav-related, and until we did it was one of the strangest things we ever saw at U of C. Later that night we ended up in the middle of some weird fire ceremony behind the math building, where some guy dressed as a goblin was waving torches around from the second floor balcony as his minions chanted below. It was like a scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
posted by notswedish at 5:20 AM on May 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by notswedish at 5:20 AM on May 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
I really wish OSU did something like this. I love the creativity that goes into this event, and I should have gone home last weekend so I could just watch haha
posted by dapperkoala at 8:36 PM on May 9, 2011
posted by dapperkoala at 8:36 PM on May 9, 2011
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