I have a story in the City Section of the New York Times today about the rogue anagrammers messing with the Flatbush Pavilion marquee that I mentioned last week. By a stroke of luck I ran into the first anagrammer, David Collins, on my way home from a friend’s house last week.
Mr Collins may have started the anagramming but there is at least one other person who seems to be trying to outanagram him! I think the culprit may be a regular on the Dailyheights messageboards.
The anagramers can only use the 38 letters in the film titles “Van Helsing” and “Man on Fire” displayed on two sides of the marquee plus one extra letter “R” that Mr Collins found tucked into the side of the hoarding near the wall.
The anagrams have gradually become better and more topical as the weeks have gone on, from “Hanna Have Snail Venom From Ginseng Firm” (Mr Collins) to “Nine Vain Men Form a Gavel of Lies” (Mr Collins) “Sinning Men in Hell Vanish From a Grave” (Mystery Anagrammer) to Mr Collins’ latest “Hens N Men Fear Avian Viral Gloom.”
I’ve attached a few pics below. And thanks to Mr Collins for sending me the latest photo (pictured above).
Film titles to date:
Hanna Have Snail Venom From Ginseng Firm
Gene Sang of a Virile Man’s Infirm Love
Revel in Fish in Non-Glaring Semen From Havana
Nine Vain Men Form a Gavel of Lies
Van Helsing’s AWOL in Iran (Front)
Hangmen on Fire (Reverse)
Sinning Men in Hell Vanish From a Grave (Front)
No Fear (Reverse)
Hens N Men Fear Avian Viral Gloom (Front)
Fine Sign (Reverse)
UPDATE:
(Sun, Oct 16) Reigning Villains have no Fear of News Men
(Fri, Oct 21) Forlorn Fenian Man Heaves Virgin Englishman
Nice to see this great neighborhood phenomena getting wider coverage. I have been documenting the changes on my photo site as well:
http://www.picpatrol.com/category.php?category=18
Cheers Jack. Nice pics
Do the people that own the cinema not mind?
The cinema has been closed since last May. I think it has been bought by the fitness club next door and there are rumors that it is going to be used to extend the gym. No one, as yet, seems to mind.
[…] On to the quintessential Englishman in New York, not our own, dear Third Avenue, but Paul Berger from Leeds, a man with a nice eye for photography and a freelance writer living in the overlarge fruit. He has a very nice post about existentially disurbing cinema marquee parodies made by people anagramming the letters around. […]
Paul, the upstairs of the theater will be a gym. The downstairs will be an American Apparel retail outlet. Demolition on the interior has already started.
Thanks Jack. You know, I heard a rumor that there were some problems with the renovations–something slowing down the process. Have you heard anything similar?
I have no inside track. But I will tell you that I’ve passed by crews of Eastern Eurpopean workmen who do not look too happy and point at things (inside the place) at least twice.
And here’s something very odd. For the past three days, if you passed by the theater the gate was down, but the middle door of the entrance is open? No idea what that is about but it seems a bit off.
Perhaps the place is cursed and can only be a movie theater and it’s rejecting Dov Charney’s advances.
Was following the discussion on the validity of your reporting on daily heights when it was suddenly pulled. What happened?