This is the first task i ever wanted to do in SF0. it has been a long, convoluted journey. First i had to level, and then i did this, and Lincøln said it wasn't invasive enough.

You want an invasion, boss, I'll give you an invasion.

Saturday dedicates this praxis to Ink Tea.

Collaborators: July 4th, Pope Uncommon the Dainty, Major Flower, Moose, the Major's friend C., Kate Saturday

Total peanuts dispersed: about 5 gallons

First Wave: First Friday Street MRKT 9/3/10

The First Friday Street MRKT is a summertime annex of First Fridays, when the art galleries in downtown SJ are open late to show off their new exhibits and everyone comes down for a party. Saturday, Pope Uncommon the Dainty, and July 4th met in front of Anno Domini to confer. The mission was stalled by Saturday's mortal need for tacos. The conspirators retired to Taqueria los Gallos de Villa to confer further.

The goal was simple; facilitate the infiltration efforts of the peanut army into the SJ art scene. Eir daintiness observed that the fatal allergic reactions of some members of the human population might complicate the peaceful conquest the peanuts hoped for, so all parties agreed that no peanuts would be introduced to any intimate area (such as a pocket or bag) of a person of unknown allergies. As Saturday received a life-giving infusion of tacos, the conspirators reviewed the troops.

The first peanut troops scoped out a fence, a crossing sign, and a car. Then the conspirators hit the street market and the invasion began in earnest. July 4th, hoping for a peaceful transfer of power, offered peanuts to members of the human population. Saturday used her background in prestidigitation to get peanuts into pockets, and her background in food service to know whose pockets were safe to put peanuts in. Soon peanuts had outposts on every stall at the market. Unfortunately we have little documentation of this phase, as all conspirators were more focused on sneaking peanuts into things than taking pictures of the snuck legumes. One intrepid nut colonized an artist's palette as she was painting on it. She noticed it almost immediately, and expressed bemusement to a neighboring artist, who said that she'd seen them all over the market.

Second Wave: Zero1 SJ 9/17/10 and 9/18/10

Zero1 is a two-and-a-half day biennial celebrating the merging of art and technology in downtown SJ. It used to be associated with SubZero, an underground, DIY version of the same thing. This time a slightly larger chunk of 1st St. was shut down and the streets were paved with technoart, including a bus built to look like an elephant, a three story tall writhing pneumatic spider, mechaballerinas, giant bikes, drivable arcade games, drive-in theaters full of junked cars, and things too numerous to mention. It is pretty great, and i recommend it next time it comes around. Even Rubin didn't hate it.

The peanuts were out in force tonight. Saturday was joined by Moose and Major Flower. Notable successes included the brim of a top-hat and a drummer's floor tom. It turned out that Moose was a ninja of peanut placement, and, inspired by Saturday's top-hat triumph, was able to place a nut in the brim of the singer from Corpus Callosum's bowler hat. It fell out almost immediately, which confused him.

Third Wave: Two Buck Tuesday 10/19/10

Two Buck Tuesday is a monthly event at Kaleid gallery that incorporates demonstrations, music, food, quirky speakers, live drawing, and small artworks by local artists for $2. This month, the speakers included a guy who used to do remote viewing for the CIA. Moose and Saturday were the only peanut facilitators in attendance, but they were more than sufficient. One guy who goes to all the art events and tries to sell people "End Your Feulish Ways" stickers, upon noticing the peanuts, started going around eating them. Their widows were given a stipend and a medal in commemoration of these fallen heroes. I noticed that Lacey, one of the organizers of TBT and the cashier, had one of the original peanuts with faces on them in her art box. I don't remember whether that was me or Eir Daintiness.
"You have a peanut," said Saturday.
"Yeah, they're all over. They were at Street MRKT last month and now i've started noticing them here, too," Lacey replied. "They used to have little faces, but I think whoever's doing it is getting lazy, because now they're just blank."
"Maybe the peanuts were trying to fit in, and now they think we're ready for them," Saturday said, trying to hide her resentment at being called lazy. "Do you know who's doing it?"
"No, I haven't seen anyone hide them. They're just suddenly everywhere."
"Crazy," said Saturday, dropping another peanut in Lacey's art box.

Fourth Wave: December First Friday 12/3/10

The way cleared by three previous waves of invaders, the motherpeanut felt safe to land. It landed outside Anno Domini, its copper fins gleaming, the fumes from its exhaust boiling into the night.

Among the galleries that fell victim to the final invasion:
Anno Domini, where the owner tidied up peanuts as fast as they landed
WORKS, where they were out of snacks, so the peanuts gallantly volunteered
MACLA
Higher Fire
San Jose Glass Alliance, where the peanuts were nervous about being incinerated and subsequently deployed only a few hardy troops
Slave Labor Graphics, where Saturday beat the owner thumb wrestling and lifted one of those giant 1 ton barbells, and a child collected all the peanuts and gave them to the owner in exchange for fist bumps
and the street, notably beds of small plants, the divot of bike seats, under the windshield wipers of cars, and looking into windows.

Brian from Anno Domini came out as we were taking a goodbye photo of the motherpeanut. "Is this one of yours?" Saturday asked.
"No," said Brian, "I think it's from the artists who were doing the pharmaceutical thing out here earlier."
"I saw some inside, too!" observed Saturday.
"Yeah, there were peanuts everywhere. It was like an easter egg hunt, everywhere I looked there was another one! I heard they were all over, in all the galleries. I guess some artist thought it was an installation." Then he agreed to take our picture by the peanut, and then we all played Ninja. C. made it to the last round every time, but never quite won. Saturday was tagged out the first round every time, which she blames on standing next to David Perez, who does judo.

Notes

Unless otherwise specified, first person pronouns in this praxis refer to Kate Saturday.
A big priority for me in tasking has been preventing environmental disruption or unpleasantness. I use only biodegradable stuff when i'mma leave it in public, like Information Insertion or Merci. Also i didn't want to hide squishy fruit places that it would squish and cause people gross-out-itude. part of this is selfish; i don't want people to find out about SF0 and think "oh, you're the guys who filled my pockets with rotten grapes" and then punch SF0 in the face. Peanuts are good on both counts. They biodegrade like the dickens, they don't rot, and if squished they become crumbly and dusty, not moist and sticky. Eir Daintiness pointed out that they are deadly to some people, though. So swings and roundabouts.

Also even though i never remember to take photos, i do have about twice as many as i put up here, and if you ask nicely i will put up more.