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OK, so ages ago some of us online folks (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
harmanhay, claughter713, and a few hundred others that I don't know the LJ handles for) all participated in this wacky little piece of mayhem.
What was it?
The short answer is - never challenge Misha Collins to anything (*anything*).
Unless you want him to actually do it.
The long answer is - GISHWHES is a consciousness expanding, art inspiring, friendship inducing, world-peace producing, ten-day-long mad dash into perfection.
I shit you not.
GISHWHES (which stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Known) is/was the brainchild of Misha Collins (actor, baker, candlestick maker) and his sidekick Jean Louis. The plan was to use Collin's well known sway over his online fandom (known as his Minions) to utterly smash the Guinness World Record for largest internet organized scavenger hunt held across multiple continents.
The prior record was for around 120 teams participating in a hunt in Singapore.
To say we beat them bloody would be an understatement.
The final totals for the GISHWHES hunt included more than 600 teams, of 10 people each. To qualify as a team, your group had to 'find' and submit at least 5 items from a list of 219 choices. These choices includes pictures, videos and web based projects.
Each item is beautiful and ridiculous in it's own way. Also beautiful and ridiculous were the list of rules that all participants were expected to follow during the course of the hunt. These ranged from not shaving your legs for the duration of the event to matters concerning 'creative interpretation' of items and the possible consequences thereof (they also include my favorite rule - NO WHINING).
Despite our best efforts, the Holy Trinity Of LJ Costume Freaks (that would be myself,claughter713harmanhay) got split up early on. While ![[info]](https://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=90.5)
claughter713 and I managed to cling to the same bit of internet driftwood through the registrations process, the general hi-jinks of the Minion Nation set harmanhay and the lovely D adrift.
*shakes fist in mock frustration at Minions everywhere*
Even so, we all forged ahead.claughter713 and I quickly discovered that the eight other folks we'd been teamed with were...in a word...AWESOME. Not just inspired and creative and driven - but supportive and encouraging and nice (right down to the very core of the word).
Over the course of ten days we drove ourselves harshly to finish as many items from the list as possible. See, the team winners of this little game got an all expense paid trip to Rome to have dinner together (and meet some guy named Misha ) and I have to say that our team ("Team High-Five Seven One /Top Gun style double high-five here) wanted that trip something fierce; not to see some TV star or because we all had some burning desire to visit Rome (although it would be cool!) but because we all realized pretty quickly that we had stumbled into a corner of the universe with nine of the coolest folks we'd ever meet were hanging out.
Seriously.
So, what did we accomplish over 10 days? Not as much as the winners did (*sigh*), but more than enough to have us all grinning like fools and promising (with actual follow through!) to keep in touch with each other for the long haul.
Oh, and we made some art too...here's a sample:
( Follow The Rabbit Down The Hole )
harmanhay, claughter713, and a few hundred others that I don't know the LJ handles for) all participated in this wacky little piece of mayhem. What was it?
The short answer is - never challenge Misha Collins to anything (*anything*).
Unless you want him to actually do it.
The long answer is - GISHWHES is a consciousness expanding, art inspiring, friendship inducing, world-peace producing, ten-day-long mad dash into perfection.
I shit you not.
GISHWHES (which stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Known) is/was the brainchild of Misha Collins (actor, baker, candlestick maker) and his sidekick Jean Louis. The plan was to use Collin's well known sway over his online fandom (known as his Minions) to utterly smash the Guinness World Record for largest internet organized scavenger hunt held across multiple continents.
The prior record was for around 120 teams participating in a hunt in Singapore.
To say we beat them bloody would be an understatement.
The final totals for the GISHWHES hunt included more than 600 teams, of 10 people each. To qualify as a team, your group had to 'find' and submit at least 5 items from a list of 219 choices. These choices includes pictures, videos and web based projects.
Each item is beautiful and ridiculous in it's own way. Also beautiful and ridiculous were the list of rules that all participants were expected to follow during the course of the hunt. These ranged from not shaving your legs for the duration of the event to matters concerning 'creative interpretation' of items and the possible consequences thereof (they also include my favorite rule - NO WHINING).
Despite our best efforts, the Holy Trinity Of LJ Costume Freaks (that would be myself,
claughter713harmanhay) got split up early on. While claughter713 and I managed to cling to the same bit of internet driftwood through the registrations process, the general hi-jinks of the Minion Nation set harmanhay and the lovely D adrift. *shakes fist in mock frustration at Minions everywhere*
Even so, we all forged ahead.
claughter713 and I quickly discovered that the eight other folks we'd been teamed with were...in a word...AWESOME. Not just inspired and creative and driven - but supportive and encouraging and nice (right down to the very core of the word). Over the course of ten days we drove ourselves harshly to finish as many items from the list as possible. See, the team winners of this little game got an all expense paid trip to Rome to have dinner together (and meet some guy named Misha ) and I have to say that our team ("Team High-Five Seven One /Top Gun style double high-five here) wanted that trip something fierce; not to see some TV star or because we all had some burning desire to visit Rome (although it would be cool!) but because we all realized pretty quickly that we had stumbled into a corner of the universe with nine of the coolest folks we'd ever meet were hanging out.
Seriously.
So, what did we accomplish over 10 days? Not as much as the winners did (*sigh*), but more than enough to have us all grinning like fools and promising (with actual follow through!) to keep in touch with each other for the long haul.
Oh, and we made some art too...here's a sample:
( Follow The Rabbit Down The Hole )
