Tired of Planking?

Planking, or the Lying Down Game is a pointless and hilarious phenomenom that invloves lying face down in unusual and public places. It's credited with started in the UK and has swept the world by storm. The internet is filled with pictures and videos of people trying to "outplank" each other. Governments have even taken noticed of the fad after Acton Beale, a 20 year Australian died while planking on a seventh floor balcony.

But what if you're tired of planking? Maybe you don't want to participate in something that's starting to get a bad reputation. Or possibly it's just overrated. Or maybe you agree with Xzibit tweeting that it's rascist.

Either way, there are other fads you can partake in that don't quite have the popularity of Planking.

1. Owling

A response to planking, Owling is the act of sitting perched on an object, looking off into the distance like an owl. It originated when this picture was uploaded on Reddit and began spreading the same day to other sites such as Tumblr.

Like planking, you have to try the wierdest places to do it, on top of a refridgerator for example. There's been pictures of people owling on shelves, cubicle walls, houses and even statues. The main difference between this and planking is that you have to find a levatated object to "owl" on, rather than the floor. Thus making it more of a challenge.

2. Playing Dead

The act of "Playing Dead" is, you guessed it, staging a pile of bodies in convincing positions to make it seem like the participants are dead. It's been a popular meme in North Korea since 2003, but has seen some popularity on sites like DeviantART, Flickr, and playdeadpics.com. It is based on a scene in Crayon Shin-Chan, where the main character tries to prank his mother by "playing dead" on the floor.

It's different from planking because there has to be some thought put into it to be successful. You have to make it look like the people are actually dead, rather than just sleeping or laying around. It's common for people to lay on top of objects in awkward positions in the pictures.

3. Cone-ing

"Cone-ing" is different from the others because the process is uploaded in videos rather than just pictures. At a drive-thru, the person orders an ice cream cone and when the server hands them one, they grab the ice cream rather than the cone.

The video, "CONE-ING IS THE NEW PLANKING" has been featured on sites like The Daily What, Eater, Geekosystem and the OC Weekly.

Credit goes to Know Your Meme for the information, photos, and video.