Images of "Fresh Prince" character popping in small town Louisiana

[Ex Lurker]

What does it mean?

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=239613&catid=71

NBC - Residents of Moss Bluff, Louisiana are seeing a rash of bizarre vandalism. A graffiti artist is tagging different phone junction boxes with an image of a cast member from the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

An ink-stenciled image of Carlton Banks, the character played by Alfonso Ribeiro in the 1990s sitcom, has been popping up on boxes belonging to different telephone companies in the area.

Residents began noticing the images on Monday. No formal complaints have been made with authorities according to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office. However, residents are curious why the images have been stenciled into so many junction boxes across the area.

"I guess people are putting them on there trying to get some point across," said Katie Lefleur, a resident of Moss Bluff.

[Warren DeMontague]

1. It's a secret message, in code.

The message is, "I have a stencil and I'm fucking with your head"

[Liquorice]

2. Hmm. Images of "Carlton Banks" and grafitti... Maybe Banksy is in town. LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Nah, this doesn't look like the work of Bansky.

I recently watched "Exit through the gift shop"-- fascinating send up of the whole 'street art' craze and attempts to cas$h in on it. Really interesting stuff.

[blogslut]

3. Here is the manifesto of one of the taggers

Now, this is the story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air

In west Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin some b-ball outside of school
When a couple of guys
Who were up to no good
Startin making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
She said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air'

I begged and pleaded with her day after day
But she packed my suite case and sent me on my way
She gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket.
I put my walkman on and said, 'I might as well kick it'.

First class, yo this is bad
Drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass.
Is this what the people of Bel-Air living like?
Hmmmmm this might be alright.

But wait, I hear the prissy, booze, whine, all that
Is this the type of place that they should send this cool cat?
I don't think so
I'll see when I get there
I hope they're prepared for the prince of Bel-Air

Well uh, the plane landed and when I came out
There was a dude who looked like a cop standing there with my name out
I ain't trying to get arrested yet.
I just got here!
I sprang with the quickness, like lightening disappeared

I whistled for a cab and when it came near
The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror
If anything I can say is that this cab was rare
But I thought 'Man forget it' - 'Yo home to Bel Air'

I pulled up to the house about seven or eight
And I yelled to the cabbie 'Yo homes smell ya later'
I looked to my kingdom
I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air

:)

[Ex Lurker]

6. On another board, in the "introduce yourself thread,"

someone posted a multipart intro of his life story that had everyone on the edge of their seats. It wasn't until he got to the end that people realized it was an embellished recap of the Fresh Prince theme song.

[blogslut]

9. yeah

I'ma too tired to finagle the lyrics to fit the thingy. :hi:

[Honeycombe8]

4. It's secret code for, "I'm a lazy imbecile with no job and nothin' better to do...

than go around defacing public property. I don't even have a girlfriend...that's how worthless I am. But shucks, ain't it funny what I'm puttin' on them phone boxes?"

[OrangeGrapes]

8. And seemingly...

You have nothing better to do than to insult this person for no reason whatsoever. Or am I missing something? I know these might be hard times, but no matter how hard life is, there's no reason or excuse to drag someone down.

[Honeycombe8]

10. Oh, geez. I feel so bad, holding someone accountable for a crime.

I'm just an awful, terrible person. What with expecting people to lead productive, busy, worthwhile lives, instead of running the roads in the middle of the night committing crimes (albeit misdemeanors).

What a horrible, terrible person I am.

Tell you what. You send in that $1,500 check to Moss Bluff, for them to remove the graffiti. Be prepared. If it can't be removed, the boxes will have to be replaced, which will cost more. We would get the criminal to pay for it, but we know he doesn't have a job and can't pay it. We also don't know who he is. Moss Bluff doesn't have a large enough budget to assign a policeman to patrol the phone boxes every night to try and catch him.

Maybe the lazy bum will get a job, and will then have to sleep at night instead of destroy what others have built. He will also be a happier person, with money in the bank, and a future.

[Ghost in the Machine]

15. How do you know the person doesn't havea job?

:shrug:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

18. Don't you know? If X is a person I don't like, and Y is a defect of character, then X has Y.

:eyes:

[Ghost in the Machine]

19. Well that clears that up!

:hi:

My next question would be: How does he know it's gonna cost $1500 to fix them? Seems like a couple of cans of green spray paint would do the job, huh?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

5. Some dude airbrushed Pee-Wee Hermans mugshot on my fence

and in a few other places in the area, just one of the many indignities inflicted on my fence since a bus stop went in.

[Luminous Animal]

7. Yes. Art should be confined to museums and galleries.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. I think it's legitimate to ask that people not paint other peoples' walls, houses and fences.

But, that said, I do think some interesting things have been done in the street art arena.

[Luminous Animal]

22. Especially the riff-raff who ride buses.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. What?

So you're okay with letting your property be vandalized? Really?

What, exactly, are you trying to say?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

21. not necessarily,

If an artist would like to recreate a Charles Comfort mural on my fence I would be quite pleased, I would just really prefer people didn't spray paint, pee and put out cigarettes on my fence.

[Luminous Animal]

23. Neighbors solicited donations to pay an artist to create this on their fence...

The shopkeeper down the street paid an artist to create this:



Neither one of them has had a problem with graffiti since.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. I think those are great. And I'm all for murals and the like.

But the crucial point is, those were done with the consent of the property owner.

[Arrowhead2k1]

12. My guess is simply for the lulz.

Missions accomplished.

[demmiblue]

13. This thread is useless without...

[Ghost in the Machine]

16. Go, Carlton! Go, Carlton! It's your birthday! Go, Carlton!

Thanks for posting that :-)

:hi:

[Chimichurri]

17. Wannabe Banksy and Shephard Fairey. It's working because he'

getting publicity. Soon you'll see him in a SoHo art gallery.

[catzies]

20. But does he have a posse, like Andre the Giant? n/t