On The Hunt

By Amanda Dickman in Miscellaneous on May 11, 2007 8:25PM

It's been a long time since Chicagoist was on a good scavenger hunt. Too long. But the lucky folks at the University of Chicago have an opportunity to do so every year. The 21st annual University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt (aka Scav Hunt), where UC students partake in a 4-day scavenger hunt that takes them around campus, the city, and on road trips (not to exceed 1000 miles), began first thing yesterday morning. The 300+ Scav Hunt items include "performances, construction, arts and crafts, research, travel and finding obscure objects."

Further research on the matter quickly reveals that this is not your mother's scavenger hunt -- these people take this event very seriously. Notable events in Scav Hunt history include a marriage proposal and the successful creation of a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor (in honor of one David Hahn).

Plus, there's a Scav Hunt Wikipedia article, so you know it's important.

Here is a small spattering from this year's list:

74. Enter a lecture class in street clothes. Receive loud phone call. Shout “I NEED TO GO, THE CITY NEEDS ME!” Remove street clothes to reveal superhero apparel. Run out for the good of the land. [18 points]

79. The Gob-stacle course! Ride a Segway! Wield the sword of destiny! Show us your Hot Cops routine! Eat a frozen banana! Dramatically hurl a letter into the sea, from whence it came! Shoot lighter fluid from your sleeves! Demonstrate to the Dean of Love that he’s a chicken! Cut an album with Franklin! 100 pennies! And if you’ve got the wrong music, well, you’ve made a huge mistake. [Did you really think you would have to do anything less for this 3,000 point item, no, 4,000, no, 5,000, no, 52. COME ON!]

157. Get the hiccups. [7 points]

164. A tooth fairy. Literally. (A baby tooth carved into the shape of a fairy.) [32 points]

217. Better than the real thing: prosthetic limbs that go beyond the call of duty. [6 points per limb, limit 4].

267. A sofa that looks like it escaped from a maximum security prison for criminally insane furniture, the first pages of a novel about the Titanic told from the perspective of the iceberg, and a performance of “Come on Eileen” on squeaky dog toys and a bathtub. It’d all better be good enough to make us shit tiny vampires. [5 points, 2 points, 13 points]

268. Pants containing a party. G [10 points]

Sounds like a good time to us. With our day jobs and such, Chicagoist is admittedly a little jealous.

Image via swanksalot.