This is planking. What a planker! Photo credit: Ross Zurowski
daredevil a location as possiblecuterpreferably moustachioed
Four muscular students from Purdue University, known as the ‘Batman Boilers,’ were the first to hang from their toes off unlikely ledges. ‘Batmanning’ was born. But is this increasingly acrobatic search for hokey fun heading for disaster? Is everyone on the internet actually a plank?
Many have been impressed by the athleticism required to ‘Batman.’ Bleeding Cool blog is right behind the trend: “It’s fun, it’s sexy, it’s good for your ankles.”
- ‘Terrifying trend.’ The Daily Mail’s Emma Reynolds called for caution. An over-ambitious ‘planking’ has already led to the death of an Australian man who attempted to balance on a balcony railing. The Sun, ever willing to offer medical advice in the form of a stinky pun, was also concerned by the perils of excessive hanging upside down. “Apart from the threat to life and limb we reckon daredevils also risk ending up with a headache. You could call it Batman and throbbin’.” Video-proof soon emerged that not all humans make good bats.
- Mis-nomer. Chris Sims of Comics Alliance, doing his best impression of The Simpson’s Comic Book Guy, objected that this position-craze really has nothing to do with the caped crusader himself. Indeed, “None of these dudes are even wearing a cape.” Worse still, hanging from your feet can only be considered “pre-Batmanning.” “The actual act ‘To Batman’ would certainly refer to brutally thrashing crooks.” A-men.
- Death to the internet craze. Adrian Chen of Gawker opened himself up to parody and accusations of being a sourpuss by calling time on the whole lightly amusing fair. “The half-life from internet meme to morning talk show segment is zero. It’s time for journalists to retire this dumb pop cultural crutch.” Seth Abramovich, also on Gawker, muttered that ‘Batmanning’ might be the work of shady Warner Bros types hawking their latest project. Maybe it’s time we all had a good lie down.
Owling. Photo credit: Unlyne
