Subject: I just made 115 jars of blackberry jam...
From: Misha <[email protected]>
Date: August 12, 2017 at 5:51:49 AM EDT
My beloved,
Congratulations! You made it! The week is nearly at an end and we’ve arrived together at the end of this, the very last gishwhes-as-we-know-it.
Over the years, gishwhes has grown from a lark into something I never imagined it could be when we started, (and not to brag, but I have a pretty expansive imagination). But you—the gishwhes community— have turned this lark into something unexpected. gishwhes is the embodiment of gestalt; thanks to you, it really has become greater than the sum of its parts. Over and over you’ve proven that you could rise to the most absurd challenges. We’ve seen nuns dangling off rope swings and vinyl Castiel toys ascending into the heavens, hang-gliding stuffed animals and gravity-defying sandwiches. This week alone we’ve seen courage and crushed buses, cinematic acts of generosity, and more underwater board meetings and choirs with exposed gums than I’d ever expected to encounter in my lifetime. Over the years, we’ve also proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that there’s nothing you guys can’t do with a little hot glue, some imagination, and enough menstrual hygiene products. For that knowledge alone, I’ll always be grateful. I know it's been a rewarding and, I know, trying week at times for all of us; I just finished making 12 blackberry pies, 115 jars blackberry jam, and 20 square feet of fruit leather, and I still have more than 25 gallons of berries that I'm trying to find ways to contend with.
Not too shabby for a lark. You did well, and I’m honored to have been your cruise director on this strange little voyage.
As we head into the last day of the Hunt, a lot of you are wondering “Okay, Misha, what’s next?” I'm glad you asked. Rest assured, there issomething coming. I’ll tell you more soon, but in the interim, rest assured: you can’t get rid of such a strange and world-upending thing as gishwhes so easily. Meanwhile, we've got a lot to do still. After the Hunt there will be FEGVEP, our first-ever gishwhes volunteer extraordinare program to help with reviewing submissions, that you can take part in. There will be our judging and, of course, a winner and a winners’ trip. There will be sortiing out the future of Dancescape, Fiona Sargeant's dance school in South Africa that you've raised $150k for (and counting!)... Then, there will be the something new... but we’ll talk more about that later. I’m excited. I hope you are, too.
So thanks. Thanks for the stomach cramps I got from laughing too hard at all of your submissions. Thank you for more blackberries than any one man has a right to call his own, and above all, thank you for joining me on this weird, wild adventure time and time again.
The future is calling us, and it’s full of promise as we take things next-level. I can’t wait. Are you ready? Let's do this.
Your friend and eternal co-conspirator,
Misha
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
Our journey nears the end so I share tidings from you know who and advice and musings from you know why.
Item 30, I'm told was a roaring Gishwheshean good time: a gaggle of Gishwhesheans, bubbling pizza, a guitaring minstrel, the usual gremlins destroying our electronics, popsicle stick monuments to rival man's greatest structural achievements, and... Mr. Collins. He did tell me he was moved and inspired with how many people came, impressed with your teamwork, and utterly confused by what you managed to build. He also mentioned there were "a few raindrops" but that this moisture "probably kept them cool since they were working so hard." He was thrilled to see some that he had met before and to meet many new Gishfriends. I saw some of the pictures. You all deserve a warm towel and a heaping portion of some of your sanity back.
I'm looking at the pledge counter right now and it appears we have surpassed the bar for breaking a world record. How exciting! We can hang this record next to our other one. Soon we will need a new wall. Now that we've reached the world record, let's not slow down, however, until we hit 100,000. It's our objective... and Gishwhesheans deliver. So, deliver. And I want extra cheese and olives on mine.
Flags, cards, voicemails, Grand Prize, etc. - someone shall email you all this week during the Gishwhes hangover to go over the timing of those and a few of the administrative issues. I simply can't go into all that right now... Gishwhes is not over and I want to bask in every moment that it IS.
Acts of Kindness Videos. Thank you. We have received many more in the last 24 hours and they are especially moving. You all are wondrous spirits (if not slightly twisted in the head-thankfully) and you should be proud of what you're doing to "kind" the world.
Items. Fantasticulabulous. So much art. So much passion. So much enthusiasm. So much creativity. So much cheese...
And so, as with all things that are too magical, fun and real and right for our daily reality, Gishwhes can always only be fleeting and soon must fade back into its sublime darkness... but until then, squeeze it for everything it's worth.
And remember, although the Gishwhes Hunt may only come but once a year, you can always drop into the Gishwhes dimension. Throw on your kitchenware chain-mail, jump into your home-made vehicle capable of adventure and mayhem and go attack normalcy: befriend the unique and different, believe yourself to be a unique and necessary artist (for we all are), and find that silver kale lining in the dark clouds and make wondrous, beautiful, life-changing art with it.
Happy Hunting, Gishwhesheans.
I am and always shall be your Lady of Art, Creativity and Kale,
Miss Jean Louis
Advisor (a.k.a. "babysitter") to Misha Collins
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
You can view all our information on the 2012 hunt here, or select another year here.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
Lucky Seven: Things to remember that can help find your way to ghost hunting in Scotland!
1. Safety. There's a way to scavenge all of these items safely AND legally.
2. Commandments. Read the Commandments. Yes, again. And maybe one more time. Also, we may add or remove items and change the rules on you mid-hunt. So it is your responsibility to check the "Updates" page daily.
3. Submission Quality. Submit the best quality photos and videos. This year, our judges have been authorized to assign up to 50% more points for superior submissions. That means if you execute a 50-point item with exceptional care and thought, you could walk away with 75 points. So think about focus, lighting, background props, etc. If the picture is riveting, the judges will likely be riveted, and, well, you do the math.
4. Interpretation. Submit exactly what is asked for, not your reinterpretation of it. If we ask for a camel in the picture we don't want a drawing of a camel, or an inflatable camel. We want a real, hairy, spitting humped beast.
5. Creative Scavenging. Be creative on how you get props and materials for your items. Last year's participants proved you don't have to buy stuff. They used friends, neighbors, donations and communities. They were also surprised how complete strangers thoroughly enjoyed helping them complete items. Throw "Item Parties" and have people bring what you need. You can win cheaply simply by being clever, borrowing or begging.
6. Courage. Be courageous. You don't need money or talent to win this. All of these items can be completed simply by having the courage to ask someone. Between the 15 of you, someone somewhere has what you need or can help you get it.
7. Do it. Have fun, make friends, push your boundaries and mud wrestle with your creative side.
There are a number of items below that have the word "Hurricane" in front of them. Although they can be completed by anyone, they are designed to be completed by people who might be home-bound with no electricity for the next few days because of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast in the US. Please note, if the power outages are prolonged, we may extend the deadline for these items (and perhaps all others) past the end of the hunt. Remember, if you're on the East Coast and your authorities have told you to stay inside, FOLLOW THEIR DIRECTIONS! Do NOT go outside. Be safe and good luck!
ALL of the Items below should either be captured as "images" (which are photographs) or "videos". When you click "Submit", there will be instructions on how to submit the links to these images or videos. You should only use IMGUR, VIMEO and YOUTUBE. IMPORTANT - Unless otherwise specified, ALL VIDEOS must be 30 seconds or less!
We are going to attempt to shatter the Guinness World Record for the “Most Pledges to Commit a Random Act of Kindness.” The current record is 74,379 pledges held by Guinness Breweries. Let’s take the throne! Your team must collect “pledges” from individuals pledging to do a Random Act. Click this link and follow instructions; don’t click the submit button here. (You get 1 point for every 2 pledges - up to 350 points maximum. It’s only 47 per team member, but we expect you to exceed this because this isn’t all about points. Is it?) (0 points)
2. [IMAGE] A four-post, queen-sized bed with headboard and footboard. On the bed: a sleeping person. Over the person: A comforter. Under the person’s head: A pillow. Bed, person, comforter and pillow must all be situated in a Wal-Mart parking lot.(62 points)
3. [IMAGE] A storm trooper in full costume including leggings (not just the mask!) cleaning a pool. We must see someone lounging in a swimsuit holding a cocktail nearby. (78 points)
4. [IMAGE] Help someone who has been injured or whose home has been damaged by hurricane Sandy. (60 points)
5. [IMAGE] Let’s see what Twister would look like with 13 people. Each person must be wearing only one color of clothing, i.e. all yellow, or all red and no two people can be wearing the same color clothing. (56 points)
6. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - If your child were a prodigy artist and had a marker and you were deep asleep and they were inspired to “beautify” your face, what would the result be? (8 points)
7. [IMAGE] 3 adults and a dog sitting on chairs around a table in a public library. The humans are reading Dr. Seuss books. The dog is wearing prescription eyeglasses and reading Kant. (23 points)
8. [IMAGE] Ever seen the movie “The Hangover”? Let’s see the aftermath of the most debaucherous party ever. Photo must be taken at the home of a team member’s parents. (38 points)
9. [IMAGE] Using a Zamboni and dyes, draw a giant frowny face on an ice-skating rink. (72 points)
10. [IMAGE] Find an object that was manufactured the day and year you were born in city or town of your birth. Prove it. (Note: the “object” in question cannot be you or your twin.) (34 points)
11. [IMAGE] Submit a “Freedom of Information Act” request for your personal files. (5 points)
12. [IMAGE] Creatively edit the Wikipedia entry for Jared Padelecki to seamlessly include your team name and some mention of his abiding admiration of Misha Collins. (6 points)
[WEBSITE] Create the Misha Collins fan site that Jared Padelecki would build if he only knew HTML. Submit the website URL. (6 points)
13. [IMAGE] An op-ed piece published in a local paper about how “petty, vindictive birds are stealing from the elderly!” (23 points)
14. [IMAGE] A person in a business suit with a leather briefcase jumping into leaf pile. (18 points)
15. [IMAGE] Five parking tickets made out to the same license plate on the same day in the same municipality. (66 points)
16. [IMAGE] Knit a scarf that is at least 12 feet long and is being worn by 3 people at one time. (32 points)
17. [IMAGE] Thread the stem of an actual, still-green, four-leafed clover through the hole of a nose piercing. (12 points)
18. [IMAGE] You and 8 of your friends standing outside the Copenhagen City Hall. One of you, smiling, is holding a large sign that says: “Denmark - ranked 2012 ‘World’s Happiest Country!’” Everyone else in the photo must be either pissed off or crying. Mascara must be running. (18 points)
19. [IMAGE] A uniformed Burger King employee enjoying a McDonald’s Happy Meal. (33 points)
20. [IMAGE] Get a tour of a sauerkraut factory. Photo must depict at least 50 gallons of uncanned sauerkraut and a team member wearing a single sequenced glove. (63 points)
21. [IMAGE] The inside of an ICBM missile silo decorated for Halloween. Remember, it must be a real ICBM silo to qualify. “Interpretation” will dock points from your team… unless it’s really good! (190 points)
22. [IMAGE] We’ve all heard of a “flea circus”. What do “flea strip clubs” look like? (28 points)
23. [IMAGE] A GISHWHES counter-rally at an Obama or Romney campaign stop. Must include at least 5 people with large picket signs.(54 points)
24. [IMAGE] The president, king, chancellor, premiere or prime minister of a nation modeling a brazier. (141 points)
25. [IMAGE] Calendar item: A photo of a scantily clad fireman (or firemen) whose skimpy attire is made entirely from kale. Model must be posing in front of a fire truck. Bonus points if, behind him, water is shooting up into the air from a hose or hydrant. (71 points)
26. [IMAGE] Proof that a team member’s family tree leads to Genghis Khan. (24 points)
27. [IMAGE] A photo of someone using one of those ancient 1800s cameras – you know the ones with the wooden tripod and the black cloth – taking a photo of a commodore 64 computer that’s resting on a wooden stool. (49 points)
28. [IMAGE] A live monkey or ape wearing a sock monkey hat while trying to extract burnt toast from a toaster. (82 points)
29. [IMAGE] Have a romantic dinner with a marionette puppet at a 2- or 3-star Michelin restaurant. A puppeteer clad in black must control the marionette. The puppeteer must not eat.
(86 points)
30.[IMAGE] Show up at Second Beach in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada on November 4th at noon with 500 popsicle sticks, a spool of sewing thread and quick-drying glue. (90 points)
31. [IMAGE] Unionize GISHWHES. (38 points)
32. [IMAGE] Fifteen children in Halloween costumes each holding up a sign with a different letter that, combined, say “GISHWHES or Treat” (19 points)
33. [IMAGE] Get your team name and “GISHWHES” on a billboard. Must include commercial-looking graphics, and must be at least 100 square feet on an actual, commercial billboard. (131 points)
34. [IMAGE] Calendar item: Wear cheese and wear it well. You cannot be wearing anything but cheese. You may use any type of cheese you wish. Supermodel it posed next to or on a classic car (a classic car is any car that predates 1980.) (98 points)
35. [IMAGE] Draw or paint a portrait of Misha Collins and the Queen of England, both dressed in Steampunk, riding on a single stallion. (28 points)
36. [IMAGE] Hug a uniformed Veteran. (42 points)
37. [IMAGE] A screen cap of a chat thread on Misha Collins’ IMDB page. The thread must be started by a user with your team’s name and must pose an unusual question about Misha’s personal life, such as, “Is it true that Misha Collins eats nothing but the hearts of human babies?” Or “Why doesn’t Misha have any fingers?” (14 points)
38. [IMAGE] A Hell’s Angels (or at least a tough & leathered biker) with an authentic Teletubby tattoo. (69 points)
39. [IMAGE] You and 3 of your friends/family dressed like Egyptians in a chariot on the steps of the Wellington Monument in Dublin. (71 points)
40. [IMAGE] Create a portrait of Jensen Ackles entirely out of skittles doing his pouty “Blue Steel” look. Must be AT LEAST 2 feet by 2 feet. (38 points)
41. [IMAGE] A real full-sized commercial Blimp or hot-air balloon, in the air, that’s been completely covered in brightly colored autumn maple leaves. (299 points)
42. [IMAGE] There is a quote on a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of a bench overlooking the bay in Sausalito. Find it and follow directions. If the paper disappears the points will be deducted from the last team to submit a link. (32 points)
43. [IMAGE] Go to the Grimm Brother’s statue with 10 of your friends and dress up and pose as a “Fairy Tale gone bad!” (29 points)
44. [IMAGE] What happens when you roast Barbie and Ken (in an embrace) with an assortment of root vegetables? You will be penalized if you eat the roasted vegetables. You also will probably die as they will be toxic from the roasted plastic. (19 points)
45. [IMAGE] Let’s see your team displayed like the “Brady Bunch” opening credits except there are 3 rows of 5 pictures (versus the 3X3 we know from the “Brady Bunch” opening credits points). The submission must be 1 image with the 15 frames in it. Each of you must be wearing 70s attire and must look VERY emotionally unbalanced. (15 points)
46.[IMAGE] Your head in a sock monkey hat mounted like a hunting trophy on a wall next to a taxidermy moose head. (113 points)
47.[IMAGE] It’s time to get organized! Create a filing system for chickens in a chicken coup. (52 points)
48. [IMAGE] What do you look like sleeping? What does a close-up of your child smiling in your kitchen look like? What would a cake look like if your child made it with no help from you? And what would your child’s face look like if he or she could eat the cake while you’re still sleeping? MUST SUBMIT AS ONE PICTURE with the four images edited together in progression side-by-side. (31 points)
49. [IMAGE] Build a teahouse under a bridge from recycled materials. Have a cup of tea in it. (73 points)
50. [IMAGE] Belgium is known for its beer. Go to A La Becasse Brewery and hold up a GISHWHES labeled beer. (61 points)
51. [IMAGE] How long was Miss Jean Louis’s “kale binge”? One might find the answer on one of our social media platforms. (29 points)
52. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Build a real igloo-doghouse in the snow. Dog must be visible in the doorway. GISHWHES must be written in food coloring on the doghouse. (58 points)
53. [IMAGE] Carve a Jill O'Lantern! Carve a pumpkin to look like a feminized Misha Collins. Bonus points for realism. (61 points)
54. [IMAGE] Elmo Gone Wrong. What would a Tickle-Me-Elmo look like if it had a serious crystal meth problem? (31 points)
55. [IMAGE] A man in a chicken suit in the pilot seat of a commercial jet. (132 points)
56. [IMAGE] Drop a school bus (may be a toy bus) into red, molten lava from an active volcano. (145 points)
57. [IMAGE] Create a public chalk art piece diagramming Kant’s categorical imperative. (19 points)
58. [IMAGE] You and your friend at a children’s hospital giving a sock or real puppet show. (48 points)
59. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Knit a “GISHWHES” vest for a cat with matching booties. (43 points)
60. [IMAGE] Sign and have notarized (or equivalent of notarized in your country) an affidavit vowing never to build raised garden boxes within the city limits of South Pasadena. (34 points)
61. [IMAGE] What would you and your friend look like if you were a human-sized burrito and taco standing side by side? (57 points)
62. [IMAGE] Build a model of the death scene of Galois in miniature out of legumes. (43 points)
63. [IMAGE] 5 uniformed postal workers hula hooping in front of a post office. (108 points)
64. [IMAGE] Attend a professional soccer (a.k.a. “football” everywhere but North America) game dressed in a US football uniform. Pads, helmet, cleats, etc. (72 points)
65. [IMAGE] Create a 2 foot-high dinosaur out of sanitary napkins. (50 points)
66. [IMAGE] Skydive while holding up a sign that imbeds, “GISHWHES” in a phrase. For example, your sign could say, “Lose your dignity – join GISHWHES.” Or “GISHWHES made me do it.” (168 points)
67. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Find prime factorization for RSA-210. (120 points)
68. [IMAGE] There is a quote on a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of a bench in front of a massive LCD screen in Wuhan, China. Find it and follow directions. If the note disappears the points will be deducted from the last team to the last team to submit a link to an image. (52 points)
69. [IMAGE] You and a friend must take at least 50 of your stuffed animals/dolls on a field trip to a grocery store. All of the stuffed animals/dolls must EITHER be attached to your clothing or in a grocery cart or both. (63 points)
70. [IMAGE] Recreate the snake’s seduction of Eve at a bus stop. Fig leaf, apple, snake, etc. (41 points)
71. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Sculpt your hair with gel, wires, tape, ornaments, animals, and whatever else into what someone would undoubtedly have to classify as the Most Epic Hair Hat the World Has Ever Seen (MEHHWHES) (29 points)
72. [IMAGE] A Yoga class in a yoga studio with at least 10 participants doing the same pose. Unlike everyone else, however, you must be wearing full skiwear including ski boots, skis, hat and goggles. (56 points)
73. [IMAGE] Break your own world record. (20 points)
74. [IMAGE] A bookstore on the Left Bank declares “Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.” Stand in front of this Parisian landmark dressed as an angel holding up a sign saying, “Don’t touch me.” (64 points)
75. [IMAGE] You handing coats you’ve collected from your closet, friends and neighbors to a local shelter. (70 points)
76. [IMAGE] Make a gorgeous wig out of cheese puffs and/or popcorn. Go shopping for diamonds wearing it. The image must show you in the wig, at the jewelry display case, talking to the sales agent, as you browse the diamonds. (77 points)
77. [IMAGE] If your team could give the entire world one piece of advice, what would it be? Have one a team member hold a sign bearing the statement over their head in front of an internationally recognizable landmark. (38 points)
78. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - A one-page GISHWHES comic strip involving a rhinoceros, a tangerine, and an appendectomy. (33 points)
79. [IMAGE] Rio is the location for the next summer Olympics. In front of the Christ the Redeemer statue, you and 6 of your friends must all be dressed in different Olympian athlete event costumes, and each of you must have at least one piece of equipment (bow and arrow, javelin, pole vault, discus, paddle, puck, etc.) and must be posing as if you were competing in the sport. You may NOT choose tennis, cycling, golf, basketball or football/soccer. If you choose equestrian as one of them, we must see the horse. (68 points)
80. [IMAGE] You posing with a “spaghetti gun” and wearing a woven “spaghetti-hunting jacket”. Spaghetti may be cooked or uncooked. (42 points)
81. [IMAGE] We want to see what the inside of Area 51’s most secret storage room looks like. (42 points)
82. [IMAGE] Let’s see you make a snow angel. But instead of making it from snow, make it from Jello on your kitchen floor (Inspired by Nin Pipariperho) (19 points)
83. [IMAGE] You holding a picture of you holding a picture of you holding a picture of you holding a picture of you holding a picture of an apple. You must have a gold frame suspended around your head. (Inspired by nakedontheimpalacoveredinbees) (33 points)
84. [IMAGE] Stand next to a REAL Olympic gold or silver medal winner. They must have their arms upraised in victory but you must be biting on the medal while it’s around their neck. Must include medal winner’s name in the photo (Inspired by Paige Barton) (98 points)
85. [IMAGE] Cultural exchange: Have dinner with a Sunni and a Shiite or a Hutu and a Tutsi.
(64 points)
86. [IMAGE] A Bejeweled Bosom covered with nothing but jewels (Inspired by Erin Leigh Winchester) (36 points)
87. [IMAGE] Catch the Snipe and show us what it looks like in oil paint. (Inspired by Obadiah Kliest) (17 points)
88. [IMAGE] The Maryann Elizabeth Voisinet. Write a 10-line epically beautiful brilliant love poem addressed to “My Dearest Maryann Elizabeth Voisinet”. In addition to whatever else you put in the poem, include something about how much you like her cooking. The poem should be from your team name. Take a picture of the poem and submit the link here. YOU MUST ALSO mail the love poem to her with a small dried flower to PO BOX 99185, Raleigh, NC USA 27624. It must reach her by November 15th so we can confirm it was sent. (20 points)
89. [IMAGE] A priest, a rabbi and a minister all walk into a bar. (Inspired by Miss Alexandra Roberts) (27 points)
90. [IMAGE] High Tea - a formal tea party replete with parasols, silverware and a string quartet situated in a junkyard or garbage dump. (56 points)
91. [IMAGE] Table a motion (18 points)
92. [IMAGE] A schlemiel and a schlemazl sharing a schmear of schmaltz and getting shickered outside of a shul. (From Nicole Ansell) (19 points)
93. [IMAGE] Using only items found around you (either at work, home, or school), construct a vehicle capable of adventure and mayhem! Vehicle must be transporting a crew of three or more in full battle gear! (From Kat Green) (56 points)
94. [IMAGE] Paint a large unicorn on a military transport truck. You MUST have permission to do so. (114 points)
95. [IMAGE] Kilt made entirely of sliced cucumbers. Must be worn by a man. (From Xiomara Dilrosun) (104 points)
96. [IMAGE] In front of Hallgrimskirkja, you and a friend hold up two signs and two bags of ice. One sign says “Welcome to Iceland!” the other says “Keep your hands off our ice!” (41 points)
97. [IMAGE] Santa Clause in line at the post office with a SACK FULL OF TOYS. Must be at least 10 people in line with him. (From Sarah Charbonneau) (32 points)
98. [IMAGE] A dog taking a human for a walk. Human must be on all fours and have a collar around their neck and the dog must have the leash in his mouth. (From Michelle Rogatski) (34 points)
99. [VIDEO] Big wheel race time. 4 adults racing on plastic big wheels. They must all be wearing formal attire. (38 points)
100. [VIDEO] In mime, depict one of the following phrases: a) “The pen is mightier than the sword.” b) “You’re the bees knees!” c) “Holkyn kolkyn!” (Inspired by Ida Tamminen) (32 points)
101. [VIDEO] A couple who has been together for over 60 years sitting on a couch sharing their secrets to a happy and lasting partnership. They must say what city and country they’re living in at the beginning of the video. (Up to 60 SECONDS) (99 points)
102. [VIDEO] Jog in real “Pumpkin shoes” (you may substitute any squash or gourd), wearing jogging shorts and headphones down a busy sidewalk. (50 points)
103.[VIDEO] Two three-year-olds wearing suits and ties standing at a lectern explaining the Greek debt crisis to the camera. (28 points)
104. [VIDEO] The “Lydia Easter”: Recreate a scene from your favorite movie. Hold on, not so fast! You must film this scene in the EXACT SAME LOCATION that it was filmed in the movie (same bus stop, restaurant, park, castle, shark’s belly, etc.) The actors must be dressed the same, same props, etc. The more identical the scene the more points you will receive. Extra points for depicting a scene from one of Lydia’s favorite movies: “Mao’s Last Dancer” or any of the “Harry Potter” movies. (2 minutes) (100 points)
105. [VIDEO] The first meeting of an adopted child with their biological parent. We will know if this is staged with “actors”. Don’t lie – bad karma is not a good thing. (148 points)
106. [VIDEO] Film a Random Act of Kindness and set it to music. (May be up to 90 seconds.) Must include voice over. Note: Your video will be automatically entered into the non-profit Random Acts’ SAARA contest. If your video submission wins the contest, up to $3,000 will be donated to the charity of your choice! See this link for all details:http://www.therandomact.org/events/saara/ BE SURE TO SUBMIT THE VIDEO LINK ON THE GISHWHES WEBSITE, not the Random Acts website. We will allocate your GISHWHES points and forward your video to Random Acts. If your team wins the SAARA contest, your team will vote on which charity should receive the donation. If you can’t come to a consensus on which charity to support, we’ll do a blind drawing to select a winner. Good luck! (121 points)
107. [VIDEO] A man and a woman in full wedding attire, standing perfectly still holding hands in a well-lit crowded public space for 20 minutes. Neither of you can move. This submission must be time-lapsed so the entire 20 minutes is condensed to 20 seconds – fast motion. (79 points)
108. [VIDEO] Wearing swim flippers and a mask, approach a complete stranger in a public space and then hand them a “seaweed bouquet” with one flower in the middle of it. (82 points)
109. [VIDEO] Ever seen this? http://www.upworthy.com/if-your-dad-did-this-you-are-probably-an-awesome-person?c=upw3 Let’s do the same thing but edit together multiple kids under the age of 5 singing “It Sucks to Be Me” from the Avenue Q musical. They must be lying down getting ready to nap, playing with toys, painting or drawing or doing other kids things while they’re singing. (79 points)
110. [VIDEO] Let’s see your family dress and pose and create the “Worst Family Holiday Card Ever”. Note: everyone must be holding a cucumber. If you use an image already on the Internet and try to “doctor” in the cucumbers your team will be docked 60 points.(60 points)
111. [VIDEO] Created a choreographed lip-synced dance performance to one of Jason Manns’ or Rob Bennedict’s (Louden Swain’s) songs. Must be dynamic, must really tell a story, must involve costumes (and costume changes points) and must have a cast of at least 15. (123 points)
112. [VIDEO] A mechanical catapult that sends a pumpkin more than 100 feet across an open field. MUST be mechanical. (284 points)
113. [VIDEO] Three adult men with facial hair (ideally beards) wearing ballerina costumes, successfully trick-or-treating (getting candy) from an unsuspecting homeowner. (Note: we will be able to tell if the homeowner is actually surprised or not because we have Licensed Homeowner Surprise Analysts on staff.) (49 points)
114. [VIDEO] Give a psychic reading to a psychic with a crystal ball. (40 points)
115. [VIDEO] Three of you dress up like frogs and play “leapfrog” in your local Starbucks or chain coffee shop. We must see patrons and must hear “Ribbit!” each time you leap. (31 points)
116. [VIDEO] Get a full church choir (in a church!) to sing a 30 second remixed version of Willow Smith’s “I whip my hair back and forth.” But there’s a catch: Unlike the original version, which is an assault on both the senses and humanity itself, this rendition actually has to be musical and moving. (91 points)
117. [VIDEO] Play “Duck Duck Goose” with real ducks and geese. (38 points)
118. [VIDEO] Create a video of a mock news show (realistic set) where you are at a desk and announce that GISHWHES has taken over the world and what that means for everyone. The more realistic the set/video the more points. (92 points)
119. [VIDEO] Recite “The Raven” to a crow. (21 points)
120. [VIDEO] Have a native speaker of Zigeuner say the following, “I was having trouble with my sex life until I joined GISHWHES. Now things are going great in bed.” (82 points)
[IMAGE] Sew a one-piece outfit that covers your entire body except for your hands, feet, and head. It should be made from 21 different pieces of fabric. Multiple colors is acceptable. You must be wearing it, and a Captain’s hat. Pose in front of your local Post Office and stand at “Attention” when your photo is taken. (51 points)
121. [VIDEO] A group of at least 8 people wearing newspaper hats, performing the Haka in a government building. (Inspired by Yeal Rosen) (33 points)
122. [VIDEO] Dress in a homemade GISHWHES cheerleader outfit and stand outside a metro station or office building and cheer people on going in to work. (From Deby G) (30 points)
123. [VIDEO] Build an abacus from human beings. Use it to calculate something for a passerby. (77 points)
124. [VIDEO] Shoot an erotically charged scene. (No nudity! This is just the erotically charged foreplay). The film must involve a pizza man and the actors can ONLY talk about grammar and fonts. Please use at least three of the following terms, “kerning,” “serif,” “gerund,” “participle,” and “imperfective.” (69 points)
125. [VIDEO] Have an octogenarian teach you how to do the Charleston. (53 points)
126. [VIDEO] Get an orchestra in a symphony hall with at least 25 instruments to play “Carry On My Wayward Son”. (225 points)
127. [VIDEO] You in a flight attendant uniform, on a public transit system (that is NOT an airplane). Once the passengers are seated, give a full safety demonstration. Use props and carefully choreographed gestures. (Inspired by Cherylyn Crill) (75 points)
128. [VIDEO] Get His Serene Highness Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein to endorse your team. (132 points)
129. [VIDEO] One of you pulling up to a fast food restaurant drive-thru to order a meal, but instead of ordering a meal, you are only allowed to make sheep noises into the intercom. Must clearly hear the person on the other end of the intercom. (From Mel Clark-Schwartz) (19 points)
130. [VIDEO] Get your (1) team name or a team member’s full name and (2) GISHWHES mentioned on a broadcast television news program. (153 points)
131. [VIDEO] Recode a version of the original Pac Man so that the ghosts are now unicorns and Pac Man is the face of George Bush. Then play a game. (111 points)
132. [VIDEO] A rocking horse wearing a sock monkey hat skiing off a regulation-sized ski-jump. (No passengers allowed!) (123 points)
133. [VIDEO] A woman wearing traditional shaker attire playing “Dance Dance Revolution”.
(52 points)
134. [VIDEO] Create a petition to declare P does NOT equal NP and get strangers on the street to sign it. Must include a convincing pitch about the dangers of P=NP. (23 points)
135. [VIDEO] A man wearing traditional mariachi attire playing “Guitar Hero”. (51 points)
136. [VIDEO] March to a different drummer. 10 people in a busy, indoor shopping mall must be marching in sync to the beat of a snare drum being played loudly by an 11th person. Another person must be marching nearby to a distinctly different beat played by a second drummer. (63 points)
137. [VIDEO] A rock band performing in front of an audience of at least 1000 people. They must say at the microphone, “This next one is a new song. We’ve never played it in front of a live audience before. It’s going to be the first song on our next album and we hope you love it…” And then they must sing the song “Three Blind Mice” in rounds. (280 points)
138. [VIDEO] A woman, in a clean empty room, sitting in lotus position in the middle of at least five live snakes. She must be rubbing oil onto her arms from a silver bowl and clearly be enjoying it. The more snakes the more points. They must be real snakes. If they’re not, points will be deducted from your team. Go for the best photo/video quality. (220 points)
139. [VIDEO] It’s Halloween! Carve GISHWHES into a pumpkin. Wait for nightfall. Have a child with a flashlight hide inside the pumpkin pop out and scream “GISHWHES.” Hint: must be an enormous pumpkin for a child to fit in it. (80 points)
140. [VIDEO] A stop-motion film depicting the two by two loading of Noah’s ark and the ensuing flood. (99 points)
141. [VIDEO] Watch the TV show Supernatural on a black and white TV set powered by an antique stream-fed wooden watermill. Your video must be a continuous, unedited shot that starts showing us the water going into the water-wheel then moves to show the belts powering a generator, which in turn powers the TV. (287 points)
142. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Pun item: It’s called “Hurricane Sandy” for a reason. Show us why. (18 points)
143. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Local news coverage of a very sweet and heroic act that your team perpetrated in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Must mention GISHWHES or your team name or at the very least, the term “scavenger hunt.” (91 points)
144. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Someone with their thumb out to hitch hike in front of a subway or metro stop that has been closed due to weather on the eastern coast of the US. Note: this photo must, like all other “outdoor” items, be taken AFTER your local authorities have said it’s safe to go outside, but before the public transit system is back up and running. (33 points)
145. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Someone skateboarding on the floor of an otherwise empty New York Stock exchange taken mid-day. (148 points)
146. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Make a children’s doll from items found in your refrigerator or pantry. Go ahead and really creep us out with this one. (24 points)
147. [VIDEO] Hurricane Item - Make a comfortable fort in your living room using furniture, sheets, pillows, towels and curtains. From inside your fort, show a storm raging outside your window. This video must clearly show high winds and rain outside the window and the window must have an “X” of masking tape across it. (32 points)
148. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - A picture of you and a loved one kissing. Here’s the catch though - you must have at least 11 food items between your lips and the lips of your loved one. (29 points)
149. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - Draw or paint a picture of Miss Jean Louis riding a school bus like a horse as it flies off a cliff into a volcano. There can be no passengers and she must have a dialogue bubble above her head that says something she would definitely say at this moment. (32 points)
150. [IMAGE] Hurricane Item - It’s Medieval Battle Time! Huzzah! You and a friend or loved one, dress up in your best battle gear/armory comprised entirely of kitchen ware. You can be wearing nothing else. Strike dueling poses. (39 points)
151. [VIDEO] Hurricane Item - Recite these lines from Edna St. Vincent Milay’s poem, “First Fig”: “my candle burns at both ends—It will not last the night;—But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—-It gives a lovely light,” with a candle burning at both ends in front of your face. No other sources of light may be visible. In the background, we must hear the droning howl of Hurricane Sandy. (19 points)
152. [VIDEO] “The Maryam Al-Thani” - Dress up in Amish clothes, and use a horse or horses to tow your car into the parking lot of a corporate office building complex with “Gangnam Style” playing out of the car’s stereo. (70 points)
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
You can find all previous item lists here.
You can view all our information on the 2012 hunt here, or select another year here.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
From: GISHWHES <[email protected]>
Date: August 10, 2017 at 12:01:49 PM EDT
Hail fellow well met [Name]!
Just poking my nose into your crazy wild week here for a quick sec to let you know 3 very important things:
1. Random Acts and we launched our Change A Life item! Together, we’re going to try to fulfill the last wish of an amazing woman who has terminal cancer and thereby save the dreams of hundreds of children who live in one of South Africa’s poorest townships. She’s an English ballet teacher that moved to South Africa to teach children ballet (as well as provide food and emotional support). She’s already impacted the lives of hundreds of children, is a beacon in her community and a true example of how any of us can make a huge difference in the world.
Unless we can help, once she passes (which is likely in the next few weeks) the school will disappear. She’s devastated about this - but we’re not going to let this happen!
We’re going to surprise her on Sunday by announcing to her that we’ve raised enough money to keep her school operating for years to come. Before we do this though, we need to raise the money! So reach out to your friends and family and let’s fulfill her dream! If your team gets at least 10 donations to support this great cause, you get 108 points. Clearly, we’re not doing this for the “points”, but if we’re going to help save hundreds of children’s dreams, and the universe is going to reward you with good karma for your efforts, the least we can do is send some points your way as a thank you. Here’s where you go to send your friends to donate: https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/team/change-a-life-dancescape/randomacts. Just set up a team page there (the directions are clear in the item description - it’s item 198) and invite your friends. If each of your teammates gets just one person, you’ll have reached the goal (but let’s get lots more than that!).
2. Thanking Giles Duley. Giles is our close friend that finds our Change A Life items and helps execute them. He and his sister have traveled to South Africa to work with Fiona and hopefully share the good news with her about the school staying open after we raise the money. If you don’t know Giles, we highly recommend you watch the video at the top of this page. Giles has made tremendous sacrifices for victims of war in telling their stories over the past few years and has inspired people worldwide. We’re going to be thanking him with a “thunderclap” of thanks on the Internet in Friday, August 11th at 9am PDT. It’s item 196. We hope you’ll join us in taking over the Internet with kindness in his name.
3. Don’t forget to sign up for our FEGVEP Programme. You get to see your fellow gishers’ submissions and vote on them to help determine what makes it into the annual coffee table book as well as into our Gishwhes Hall of Fame. If you want to see other submissions and vote on them, go here ASAP (you need to sign in first!). You also get gishpoints for reviewing, so get on it!
And now I’ll let you get on with the Hunt! Savor these last few days…
Thinking of you when I’m not thinking of thinking of you,
Miss Jean Louis
Advisor (a.k.a “babysitter”) to Misha Collins
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
From: Misha <[email protected]>
Date: August 5, 2017 at 6:11:44 PM EDT
My beautiful Chloroplast,
Did you know that the wrasse fish feeds on parasites off the Black Sea bass’ body? It makes the black bass happier and healthier and ensures these little cleaner fish get a nutritious meal.
This kind of symbiotic relationship is present throughout the animal kingdom, and is also present in this, our last gishwhes (as we know it). Months of planning and collecting and work have all lead up to this moment: The very last gishwhes.com Hunt is finally upon us. Welcome! I’m glad you’re here. There are some delicious morsels in this year's hunt, I hope you enjoy them.
A few little housekeeping notes:
While of course this is a cut-throat competition and your sole goal this week is to push ahead of everyone and win, remember our real, subversive goal: to have a great time as we wake the world up out of its complacent slumber. That means we need to be kind and inclusive to everyone. Work together with your teammates and when in doubt, be kinder than you have to be to them (and to everyone). Push your boundaries and reach out to people for help, but respect those who don’t want to take part in our weird little game. There will always be others out there that will help you. Find them. They need you.
We’re going to be adding some truly bizarre, out-of-this-world extra items throughout the week, so make sure you keep a regular watch on theUpdates page and our social media. (Our Updates page is always the most up-to-date place to get changes to the List, so make sure you’re checking it.) In particular, keep an eye out for our upcoming Change A Life item. We’re doing something with our friend Giles Duley this year that is truly incredible, and I can't wait to see where it takes us.
So let's begin... Remember to be good to each other and work with your teammates. This is one time when it's okay for your eyes be bigger than your stomach, so try everything that catches your eye. Go big! Have a great time and together, we’ll pick the parasites of complacency and normalcy off this world and leave behind a weirder, happier planet in its place. Let’s shake things up, guys.
It’s time to feast. Dig in.
Your busy bee,
Misha
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
From: GISHWHES <[email protected]>
Date: August 5, 2017 at 10:51:50 AM EDT
Greetings [Name],
The epic journey of gishwhes has now begun! THE ITEM LIST HAS BEEN POSTED! Buckle up for an amazing ride of weirdness, kindness, art, creativity, courage, mystery and above all, global community in serious head-turning action.
First things first! Log into the website and click on “Items” on the menu. You’ll find the item list and instructions on what to do, how to do it and when to do it (and in some cases who to do it to). So do it.
A few tips off the launch pad to give you a very successful, safe and fun journey in the Hunt:
1. Don’t panic or get discouraged with the list. Yes, Misha Collins may have created some items that you can’t imagine completing and there are sooooo many items. But there are MANY items that are easily doable no matter who you are or where you are or what you are capable of. Remember, this list is designed so that no one team can finish all of the items. There are location-specific items, talent-specific items, depth of heart items, courageous items, artsy items, confusing items, and moonshot items. No single team will have the effort, talent and time to finish them all (at least it has never happened yet!). So for most of you, don’t worry about trying to finish the entire list! For the others, good luck as you enter a blackhole vortex of creativity, mayhem and wondermentation from which you will never return the same. A final note: Please don’t contact support to have them
2. Communicate with your teammates. If you’re not already, you will become fast friends with your teammates. You will need each other throughout the week to bounce ideas off of, help complete items, laugh with, conspire with and - in some cases - cry with (good tears!). Right away, work with them on divvying up the list. Volunteer to tackle the items you like the best or for which you might have a knack or a connection that might help your team complete them. If one of your teammates wants to do one of the items you want to do, let’s practice our first act of Hunt kindness and go ahead and let them! You will start the Hunt out with a wave of good Karma coming your way. It will feel so much better than digging your feet into the ground. Trust me.
3. Have fun! The more fun you have doing the item, the better the result will be. Invariably, the judges unanimously confirm that submissions receive higher points when it looks like a mountain of thought, creativity and FUN went into the making of the item. Remember, lots of people elect to do the Hunt to be a part of the community and to only tackle a few items and do them REALLY well. Each year we go through and select our top submissions for each item and add them to the gishwhes Hall of Fame. So, if you wish, do as many do and feel free to peruse the goliath list and cherry-pick some that you’d like to tackle over the week, at your own pace, and in a beautiful and weird way. OR, if you’re in it to win it, roll up your sleeves and try to tackle as many as you can!
4. Make sure you are following the Commandments and checking the Updates page. If you haven’t seen them, here are theCommandments, and here is the Updates page. The Commandments have key information (such as gishers not being allowed to share submissions online until AFTER the Hunt - UNLESS an item tells them to do so) and the Updates page will let you know when we have to change, add or delete an item. (It happens every Hunt for a variety of reasons.)
5. Be safe! We want you around smearing weirdness and kindness all over the place for many years to come, so if an item looks like it might put you in a sticky situation, don’t do it. There are dozens of other items to choose from. Be safe! Be safe! Be safe!
So have at it! Make wondrously weird and messy art and acts! Do acts of awe, goodness and generosity that will WAKE THE WORLD UP! And remember, right now, you are part of an experience being shared by tens of thousands of people from over 100 countries, pursuing creativity, collaboration and kindness… not a bad way to spend a few days of your year.
Enjoy the Hunt!
Miss Jean Louis
Advisor (a.k.a “babysitter”) to Misha Collins
P.S. In addition to emailing you over the week, we’ll be posting some select submissions on the Updates page of the website during the Hunt so you can see what your fellow gishers are up to!
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
We are creeping up on the 24 hour countdown so I'm compelled to alert, advise, admonish and applause. And Agapanthus. I'm compelled to Agapanthus.
We only have 100 Random Acts of Kindness videos that have been submitted. We have SEVERAL HUNDRED teams. This item is worth 121 points and can be ANY act of kindness, ANY WHERE, of ANY LENGTH up to 90 seconds. We really couldn't tee it up for you ANY easier than that. Let's see... the man who's the ultimate judge of this Hunt runs a non-profit called Random Acts of Kindness. I wonder if that item has any importance to him. Hmmm... Now I'm definitely not saying you can't win if you don't do one, but sweet bruised apricot in a green bucket, Gishwhesheans! Use your noggins!
Pledges. We're going to get there. Thank you for your continued push. It's really quite exciting to think we have convinced over 60,000 people so far to pledge to do a Random Act of Kindness. Or, if we were to put it in Gishwheshean terms: if we were to shave the hair from all of those people's heads, connect the shavings end to end with syrup, the hairy syrupy strand would stretch to the moon and back 1.360401842 times. Now that's a visual I can get my head around.
And finally, a little gem of a thought for you all: If we were all in school together (can you imagine!), you all would be the popular kids - but not in an annoying or condescending way. The kind of people you would want to have lunch with and do weird crazy things with and be pretty psyched to be seen with. I am not being sentimental. Just sentient.
We'd probably play "spin the kale" behind the school dumpster...
And on that furry note, I shall bid you adieu until tomorrow...!
My Bestest Regardings,
Miss Jean Louis
Advisor (a.k.a. babysitter) to Misha Collins
The Gishwhes Historian is a project to archive Gishwhes-related information including emails, hunt updates, timelines, and more.
You can view all our information on the 2012 hunt here, or select another year here.
If you’d like to help, we have a list of missing content here, or you can fill out one of our surveys.
