Jay Z, the Masons, Satan plotting to take over the world?

Typically I'm not a person who gets into conspiracy theories, but I couldn't help but be intrigued the other day when I came across this video on YouTube called the Jay-Z deception.
The video's author, some guy who calls himself the forerunner, basically said that Jay Z is one of many celebrities who are actually members of an elite fraternity called the FreeMasons, who all worship the devil and are plotting to enslave mankind.
Rediculous, right? That's what I thought too. But I'm an open-minded Jay-Z fan who's curious to a fault, so I kept watching and there was enough going on in this guy's analysis to raise an eyebrow. (Pardon the pun)
The guy made a lot of points, but the most intriguing thing I noticed was Jay-Z habitual use of Masonic symbols in photos and music videos, particularly the Masonic triangle and/or all-seeing eye.

During the filming of the making of his video for "Run This Town," which features Riyanna and Kanye West, he also wore this hoody that said do what thou wilt, which was a creed of Aleister Crowley, a famous occultist who lived from 1875-1947, who according to some is the founder of Satanism. He's the weird guy in the picture above wearing the pyramid thing on his head.

Anyway, what does this have to do with the scavenger hunt? Well, after I watched this video, I started watching Jay-Z's videos from the BluePrint III, and there was a lot of weird stuff, but the weirdest video of all was Jay-Z's "One To The Next One." WTF!!???!

Devil worship and Masonry aside, this was the weirdest rap video I've ever seen easily. But then I found this YouTube video that broke it down and showed it has a lot of Masonic images in it.

According to the conspiracy theory, the most elite Masons are made up of the most elite, successful people in the world, including Bill Gates, George Washington, Barack Obama, George Bush, and Benjamin Franklin among others and they're plotting to take over the world or something. I'm not convinced about that yet, but I am convinced Jay-Z 's video is weird.

So for today's scavenger hunt, find some famous people who are or were Masons and post pictures of them on this blog. Let's see how many we can find. Also, what do you think is the weirdest music video of all time? Post them on this blog if you can. Good luck.

Pet Pix

The 2010 ScavHunt project is on the home stretch…the project officially ends next Saturday (March 6) :( . Thanks to all of you for participating. Today we want you to share your favorite pet pictures with everyone. It doesn’t matter what kind or breed of pet you have – dog, cat, monkey, spider, fish, turtle, whale, elephant – just share it. And, it doesn’t have to be your own. It could be your roommate’s, or maybe a cute one you found on the street. Post it here and come back later to check on what others have posted, or you could comment on other people’s pet pictures.

Calling all Hunters!

We are approaching the final week of 2010 NYC Scavenger Hunt (weep). We want to make it the best week ever, so we are asking for your ideas. Let us know what you think we should add to the list of final hunt items.

Anything Goes!

Iconic Thursday -- NYC

Hello Everyone,

Today is Iconic Thursday.

It’s a celebration of the Empire State of Mind!
We’re hunting for the many icons of NYC…Big Lights, Yellow Cabs, Buses, Subway and all the other items that bring it all together. Please send your iconic photos with or without you in them.

Feel free to share your favorite experiences, eats, hangouts, everything NYC. Photos will make it more fun but we can do with just the memories if you don’t have them frozen in a picture. Please tag your stories, “Why I love NYC” and don’t forget to give us locations where you can.

New York City is full of icons, let’s go hunting!

Here’s a couple to set the tone...




Subway - 42 St.



Yellow Cab - 42nd & Broadway



UPDATES via facebook:

Carlton Rand--
One of my favorite NYC-specific memories comes from 1993:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCTfxOrX4k8&feature=related

Weird Factoid Wednesday!

Today is Weird Factoid Wednesday. Send us some interesting, funny or even useless facts! Did you know...
-Both Hitler and Napoleon were missing one testicle.

-Being unmarried can shorten a man's life by ten years.
-The average four year-old child asks over four hundred questions a day.
-The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language.

-The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

-No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple. -Butterflies taste with their feet.

'Tini Tuesday

Is it just me or can Friday not get here fast enough? This time of year, weeks just seem to fly by. It's cold and dark outside, and seasonal depression starts to set in. So I am designating today as Tini Tuesday. As in Martini. Yes, when the going gets tough the tough gets drinking.

Whether you prefer fine wine, fun cocktails, exotic beer or the dark hard stuff, we want your favorite drinks, recipes and fun pictures of you enjoying them! It's always a great time catching up and sharing stories over a drink, so let's attempt to re-create those great times today, here, at NYC 2010 Scavenger Hunt.

Bottoms Up!

Here is a picture of me and my mom enjoying one of our favorites... Sangria!

#MusicMonday 2.0: NYC Edition

A few weeks ago I asked readers to submit a photo of one of New York City's many music venues for the scavenger hunt and we received some great entries.

For decades musicians in every genre have used New York City as their staging location for record cover shoots. Some of them are now legendary, others lesser-known.

So sticking with the idea of music and New York City, today's scavenger hunt item will be to submit a record cover that is shot in NYC.

After you submit your record cover, unless it is clear, make sure you indicate where the photo was shot.

I'll get things started by submitting my favorite NYC-themed album cover:

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan was released in 1963 and was shot on the corner of Jones and West 4th Street in the Village.

UPDATE: From the comments, Laura Berlin reminds us that this famous Clash Album cover was shot at the old Palladium in NYC: