Law Geek shows us how to costume, iPod style:

Posted at 07:40 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Posted at 07:21 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

My friend (and fellow Street.com columnist) Jon Markman created a compact timeline/pop psychology of President Bush. It was in a recent column of his, titled Libby Indictment Not All-Clear for Market, wherein he details an explanation for how we got to where we are today. Call it a "short history of W's paternal issues."

It rings fairly true, and goes something like this:

• George W. Bush grows up with a dominating, successful father.

• His brother Jeb is considered the smart, successful one in the family.

• In his wild days, GWB is reprimanded by his dad for wasting his life.

• GWB sobers up and gets a grip. But he has lingering resentment for dad.

• GWB becomes president. His inner voice tells him to show up his dad.

• GWB decides to take Baghdad by force, which dad wouldn't in Persian Gulf War.

• Dick Cheney persuades GWB that CIA blocks the war, and plots to usurp its role.

• GWB's dad was former CIA chief. Brushing off the CIA another chance to get even.

• CIA chief George Tenet sees the coup against CIA. He plots to get even.

• Recognizing anti-Joe Wilson obsession, he plants Valerie Plame name with Cheney.

• Cheney grumbles about Plame to aide Libby. As Tenet expects, Libby tells reporters.

• Tenet then refers the Plame leak to the Justice Department, seeking indictments.

• Cheney and Libby are caught in Tenet's trap.

• Think of Langley, Va., the CIA headquarters, as Baghdad on the Potomac.

• GB tried to beat dad in Iraq and failed. Then tried to beat him at CIA and failed.

• Maybe dad wasn't so dumb after all.

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Source:
Libby Indictment Not All-Clear for Market
Jon D. Markman
RealMoney.com, 10/28/2005 2:04 PM EDT
http://www.thestreet.com/p/rmoney/jondmarkman/10250191.html

Posted at 09:33 AM in Humor, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Glen!

clickor video

too funny . .  .

Posted at 08:57 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Posted at 11:29 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The animation is way cool, but the real star is the infectiously addictive song: Bathtime In Clerkenwell

click for video

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Animation courtesy of figlimigli productions

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via Rocketboom

Posted at 08:26 AM in Art & Design, Humor, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Abbey Road (Mutts version)

How amusing is this?  (You can order it here)

Posted at 09:13 AM in Humor, Music | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tom Tolls via Yahoo!

Posted at 07:59 AM in Humor, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

See below for additional historical examples . . .

Source:
If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History    
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1ldyn/id2.html

Posted at 10:55 AM in Humor, Media, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

via Business Opportunities Weblog: 

Half a million smackeroos?  I would be hitting that bid so fast your head would spin!

Posted at 12:20 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sony's new Bravia commercial:  250,000 superballs going down a San Francisco street.

I'm not sure if it will sell any TVs, but it is very very cool!

click any still for video:

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Be sure to see The making of the advert
(watch the crew take cover once the balls begin their assault)

and the Bravia photo gallery

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via Rocketboom

Posted at 11:49 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

UK mag Total Film put together their picks of the 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time.

To be blunt, these controversial lists are designed more to sell magazines thna to be a definitive guide to anything. (On-line, it is to generate traffic).

Regardless, we're suckers for a good list -- even for a deeply flawed one that places "Casablanca" at 98, and "Lawrence of Arabia" languishing at 77. (Puh-leeze) Alfred Hitchcock‘s "Vertigo" was Number 2, and while I always liked the film, I have to think that North by Northwest, Rear Window, and Psycho are even better films.

Here's the excerpt from the Total Film's announcement

It is, frankly, a fool’s errant: compiling a list of the 100 greatest films of all time. Blood was (almost literally) shed over what should make the list.

The deputy editor and features editor are still rowing about the comparative merits of Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid (31!) and The Searchers (34). And don’t get us started on ranking The Apartment (16) higher than The Godfather (23)...

There’ll be plenty for you to get your knickers twisted over when The 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time hits the shelves.

Here's their top 10:

10 His Girl Friday
9  The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
8  The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars Trilogy)
7  Tokyo Story
6  Citizen Kane
5  The Godfather Part II (Trilogy)
4  Fight Club
3  Jaws
2  Vertigo 
1  GoodFellas

Obviously, a deeply flawed list . . .

Source:
Who is the greatest?
Er, it’s GoodFellas. You can go now...
24 Oct 2005 2:00pm
http://www.totalfilm.com/movie_news/who_is_the_greatest

Posted at 07:50 AM in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oh what tangled webs we weave . . .

click for ginormous graphic

Source:
The Washington Secret Often Isn't (PDF version)
DAVID E. SANGER
NYT: October 23, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/weekinreview/23sanger.html

Download PDF

Download JPG

Posted at 06:37 AM in Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A blank, helpless sort of face, rather like a rose just before you drench it with DDT.
- - - John Carey

A four-hundred-dollar suit on him would look like socks on a rooster.
- - - Earl Long

A modest little person, with much to be modest about.
- - - Winston Churchill

At first I thought he was walking a dog. Then I realized it was his date.
- - - Edith Massey in "Polyester"

Don't point that beard at me, it might go off.
- - - Groucho Marx

Had double chins all the way down to his stomach.
- - - Mark Twain

He had a big head and a face so ugly it became almost fascinating.
- - - Ayn Rand

He had a winning smile, but everything else was a loser.
- - - George C. Scott

He makes a very handsome corpse and becomes his coffin prodigiously.
- - - Oliver Goldsmith

He must have had a magnificent build before his stomach went in for a career of its own.
- - - Margaret Halsey

He strains his conversation through a cigar.
- - - Hamilton Mabie

He was either a man of about a hundred and fifty who was rather young for his years, or a man of about a hundred and ten who had been aged by trouble.
- - - -P.G. Wodehouse

He's a trellis for varicose veins.
- - - Wilson Mizner

He's so fat, he can be his own running mate.
- - - Johnny Carson

He's so small, he's a waste of skin.
- - - Fred Allen

He'd make a lovely corpse.
- - - Charles Dickens

Her face was her chaperone.
- - - Rupert Hughes

Her figure described a set of parabolas that could cause cardiac arrest in a yak.
- - - Woody Allen

Her hat is a creation that will never go out of style. It will look ridiculous year after year.
- - - Fred Allen

Her only flair is in her nostrils.
- - - Pauline Kael

Her skin was white as leprosy.
- - - S. T. Coleridge

His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
- - - John Quincy Adams

His face was filled with broken commandments.
- - - John Masefield

His smile is like the silver plate on a coffin.
- - - John Philpot Curran

His voice was the most obnoxious squeak I ever was tormented with.
- - - Charles Lamb

I don't recognize you - I've changed a lot.
- - - Oscar Wilde

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.
- - - Groucho Marx

I see her as one great stampede of lips directed at the nearest derriere.
- - - Noël Coward

Is that a beard, or are you eating a muskrat?
- - - Dr. Gonzo

It's like cuddling with a Butterball turkey.
- - - Jeff Foxworthy

Nature played a cruel trick on her by giving her a waxed mustache.
- - - Alan Bennett

She got her good looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon.
- - - Groucho Marx

She had much in common with Hitler, only no mustache.
- - - Noel Coward

She is a peacock in everything but beauty.
- - - Oscar Wilde

She looked as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth - or anywhere else.
- - - Elsa Lanchester

She not only kept her lovely figure, she's added so much to it.
- - - Bob Fosse

She resembles the Venus de Milo: she is very old, has no teeth, and has white spots on her yellow skin.
- - - Heinrich Heine

She spends her day powdering her face till she looks like a bled pig.
- - - Margot Asquith

She was a large woman who seemed not so much dressed as upholstered.
- - - James Matthew Barrie

She was so ugly she could make a mule back away from an oat bin.
- - - Will Rogers

She was what we used to call a suicide blonde - dyed by her own hand.
- - - Saul Bellow

She wears her clothes as if they were thrown on with a pitchfork.
- - - Jonathan Swift

The tautness of his face sours ripe grapes.
- - - William Shakespeare

When I see a man of shallow understanding extravagantly clothed, I feel sorry - for the clothes.
- - - Josh Billings

While you remain at home your hair is at the hairdresser's; you take out your teeth at night and sleep tucked away in a hundred cosmetics boxes - even your face does not sleep with you.
- - - Martial, 1st Century AD (to a female friend)

Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?
- - - Mark Twain

Why don't you get a haircut? You look like a chrysanthemum.
- - - P. G. Wodehouse

Yeah, she's beautiful, but you can't find her IQ with a flashlight.
- - - from "The Greatest American Hero"

You couldn't tell if she was dressed for an opera or an operation.
- - - Irvin S. Cobb

Posted at 08:43 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

We're off to see some Vineyards & Wineries on the North Fork   

I will update with some photos and favorite wines later . . .

Posted at 06:35 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

This commercial for Guinness Beer is way way cool:

click for video

Its titled noitulovE, and after you see it, you'll know why.

For some background on the fimr that created the Advert, go to Framestore
http://www.framestore-cfc.com/commercials/guinness_noitulove/index.html

See this link also:

best ads on tv
http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad_details.php?id=634

Posted at 08:22 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

There are lots of perversities that I understand. There are plenty that I don't necessarily share, but at least get (kinda)

This one leaves me baffled: Car Stuck Girls

Unfortunate gals, clad in bikinis or short skirts / business garb, spin their tires furiously in mud or sand. Perhaps its their plaintative pleas -- "I'm stuck, I'm stuck" -- that brings out some kind of a rescue fantasy in men.

I don't get it.

click any car for video

(whats with the bouncing up and down? that won't get your car free . . . )

OK, maybe now I almost get it -- a little

Posted at 09:27 AM in Automobiles, Photo Caption Contest! | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Some beautiful pieces in today's NYT on Christies move into China:

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Wu Guanzhong's "White Poplar Woods"
click for larger images

Lin Fengmian's "Four Beauties."

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Just lovely . . .

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Source:
Christie's Going, Going to China to Hold Auctions
CAROL VOGEL
NYT: October 20, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/arts/design/20emer.html

Art Slide Show
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2005/10/19/arts/20051020_EMERGE_SLIDESHOW_index.html

Posted at 10:04 AM in Art & Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Go figure:  the anti science crowd (replete with sloping foreheads) got this wrong

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click for larger graphic

Source:
A world of evidence says global warming is real   
Sunday, October 9, 2005: Page updated at 12:00 a.m
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/nation-world/globalwarming/1.html

Posted at 06:06 AM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

This is what the code looks like:

<embed src="http://www.clocklink.com/clocks/0002-Black.swf?TimeZone=EST" width="250" height="250" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash">

Posted at 02:29 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

These are my 5 favorites out of the top 40:

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click for larger pics

The entire list can be seen here

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Source:
ASME's Top 40 Magazine Covers Of The Past 40 Years
http://www.magazine.org/editorial/13730.cfm

American Society of Magazine Editors Unveils Top 40 Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years
October 17, 2005
Rolling Stone, Esquire and The New Yorker
Garner Top Honors in ASME’s Magazine 40/40 Competition
http://www.magazine.org/Press_Room/MPA_Press_Releases/13732.cfm

Posted at 06:52 AM in Media | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

I've already described why most people's coffee sucks; Today, we look into the health benefits of the stuff, via Forbes:

1. A few cups of coffee may help open airways for those with asthma;
2. Coffee reduces Jet lag on long flights;
3. Caffeine stimulates short-term memory;
4. It keeps you alert (duh);
5. Caffeine is known to slightly increase metabolism, which can help people lose weight;
6. Lowers the risk is of developing Parkinson's disease; Daily drinkers are 60-80% less likely to contract the disease;
7. Men who drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day have a lower risk of developing gallbladder stones;
8. The antioxidant in coffee (methylpyridinium) has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of colorectal and other cancers
9. Drinking four cups of coffee per day may reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis by approximately 30%.
10. Reducing the risk of diabetes;

Coffee is also believed to be a cognitive enhancer and an aid in concentration, especially on intellectual tasks.

You can see even more details at this Forbes slide show.

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Source:
Coffee Perks
Susan Yara
Forbes, October 12, 2005
http://www.forbes.com/health/2005/10/11/coffee-health-benefits-cx_sy_1012feat_ls.html

Posted at 08:37 AM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wow, how bad ass looking is this beastie:

via Cool Hunting

Holden debuts lead sled concept car at Australian Auto Show

Posted at 08:11 AM in Art & Design, Automobiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

boing boing:  This coffee mug bears the text of the Bill of Rights. When you fill it with hot liquid, the text slowly vanishes, simulating the effect of the Bush presidency.

Acorn Online via boing boing

Posted at 03:59 PM in Food and Drink, Humor, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Van Morrison's Contractual Obligation Album

MP3s: 31 improvised songs from Van Morrison's Bang Records Contractual Obligation Session, below.

In the great pantheon of contractual obligation records, there is the noisy (Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music), the brassy (Neil Young's This Note's For You) and the phony (Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Record).

And then there is Van Morrison's Bang Records Sessions.

In order to fulfill his obligation to his early solo label Bang Records,Van Morrison sat down in 1967 or so and cranked out 31 songs on the spot, on topics ranging from ringworm to wanting a danish, to hating his record label and a guy named George. Make sure you get past the first few tunes - it takes him a few to get cooking.

Listener Scott S, who originally brought the tapes to our attention in 2001, wrote:

As far as I know, none of this stuff was ever issued in the '60's. I can only surmise at some point in the early '90's, whoever controlled Van's Bang masters ran across the tapes and - either having questionable ethics and/or a twisted sense of humor - licensed the tapes to European labels that were releasing compilations of Van's Bang-era material. I know of at least two double-CD sets that include demo stuff as the second disc - one is Payin' Dues on Charly in 1994, and the other is New York Sessions '67. WIll Rigby told me that he saw a single-disc best-of that actually mixes legit Bang-era Morrison tracks with material from the demos - now that must be an interesting listen. I guess there's irony in the fact that Morrison recorded these tunes as a big fuck-you to his label - before he signed to Warner and recorded Astral Weeks - yet ultimately the joke's on him, now that they're being packaged as legitimate tracks (on "best-of" collections, no less).

Twist and Shake
Shake and Roll
Stomp and Scream
Scream and Holler
Jump and Thump
Drivin' Wheel
Just Ball
Shake it Mable
Hold On George
The Big Royalty Check
Ring Worm
Savoy Hollywood
Freaky If You Got This Far
Up Your Mind
Thirty Two
All The Bits
You Say France and I Whistle
Blow In Your Nose
Nose In Your Blow
La Mambo
Go For Yourself
Want A Danish
Here Comes Dumb George
Chicken Coo
Do It
Hang On Groovy
Goodbye George
Dum Dum George
Walk And Talk
The Wobble
Wobble And Ball

To download these, got to Van Morrison's Contractual Obligation Album

Posted at 11:05 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The NYT reports the FEMA is spending close to Half a billion dollars putting evacuees up in hotels: 

"Straining to meet President Bush's mid-October deadline to clear out shelters, the federal government has moved hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina into hotel rooms at a cost of about $11 million a night, a strategy local officials and some members of Congress criticize as incoherent and wasteful.

The number of people in hotels has grown by 60 percent in the past two weeks as some shelters closed, reaching nearly 600,000 as of Tuesday. Even so, relief officials say they cannot meet the deadline, as more than 22,000 people were still in shelters in 14 states on Wednesday.

The reliance on hotels has been necessary, housing advocates say, because the Federal Emergency and Management Agency has had problems installing mobile homes and travel trailers for evacuees and has been slow to place victims in apartments that real estate executives say are available throughout the southeast.

Hotel costs are expected to grow to as much as $425 million by Oct. 24, a large expense never anticipated by the FEMA, which is footing the bill. While the agency cannot say how that number will affect overall spending for storm relief, critics point out that hotel rooms, at an average cost of $59 a night, are significantly more expensive than apartments and are not suitable for months-long stays."

click for larger graphic

Graphic courtesy of NYT

What is particularly striking about this chart is the haphazard placement of evacuees; it seems to be evidence of a lack of planning . . . an unfortunately common occurence these days on the Federal side of things:

Officials in cities from Dallas to Atlanta, which are accommodating thousands of evacuees, give credit for getting 90 percent of the victims out of shelters. But they say they are frustrated by FEMA's record in helping place people in more adequate housing.

"Deplorable. Disappointing. Outrageous. That is how I feel about it," said the Atlanta mayor, Shirley Franklin, a Democrat, in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "The federal response has just been unacceptable. It is like talking to a brick wall."

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Source:
$11 Million a Day Spent on Hotels for Storm Relief
ERIC LIPTON
NYT, October 13, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/national/nationalspecial/13housing.html

Posted at 06:11 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Spin Magazine:

Each album on the list finds a sweet spot between artistic brilliance, stylistic innovation, and cultural relevance. You could listen to the Smiths' The Queen Is Dead hiding under a pillow fort in your bedroom (as Morrissey would no doubt prefer), or it could blow your mind in a crowded bar. Why? Because it pushes a unique vision from the margins to the mainstream (or the margins of the mainstream), reshaping both. Until someone new (a Wu-Tang Clan or White Stripes) emerges to redraw the margins all over again. These records tell us something different with every listen; even at their tiniest, they make private epiphanies feel like public events.

100. The Strokes, Is This It (RCA, 2001)
99. Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen (Elektra, 1993)
98. Cornershop, When I Was Born for the 7th Time (Luaka Bop, 1997)
97. Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Merge, 1998)
96. The Pogues, Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (Stiff/WEA, 1985)
95. Elastica, Elastica (DGC, 1995)
94. Slint, Spiderland (Touch and Go, 1991)
93. Pearl Jam, Ten (Epic, 1991)
92. Big Black, Atomizer (Homestead, 1986)
91. XTC, Skylarking (Geffen, 1986)
90. Sonic Youth, Sister (DGC, 1987)
89. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell (Interscope, 2003)
88. Stereolab, Emperor Tomato Ketchup (Elektra, 1996)
87. Blur, Parklife (Food, 1994)
86. Meat Puppets, Up on the Sun (SST, 1985)
84. Soundgarden, Superunknown (A&M, 1994)
83. At the Drive-In, Relationship of Command (Grand Royal, 2000)
82. Jeff Buckley, Grace (Columbia 1994)
81. Beck, Mellow Gold (Geffen, 1994)
80. D'Angelo, Voodoo (Virgin, 2000)

Go read the rest of the list here. . .

See also the Googl list of 100 Best Albums

Posted at 10:59 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The band Harvey Danger has made their latest album available totally via download.

They request a small donation, or if you like the album, to go buy the physical copy.

They explain why here.

Posted at 08:40 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pat Oliphant confuses the Hell out of the ID crowd:

via Yahoo!

Posted at 09:19 AM in Humor, Religion, Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Here's how to pay for the cost  of rebuilding post-Katrina:

click for larger graphic

graphic courtesy of NYT
(click HERE for ENORMO version)

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Source:
Closing the Hurricane Gap
MAYA MacGUINEAS and ALICIA CHENG
NYT, October 7, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/07/opinion/07macguineas.html

Posted at 09:58 AM in Finance, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

del.icio.us

Posted at 12:38 AM in Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Whats not to like about a light, tight, 300 horse Porsche?

The 2006 Porsche Cayman S

Photos courtesy of Edmunds

Specs:

• 295-horsepower, 3.4-liter, flat-six engine
• Six-speed manual gearbox that works perfectly with the engine
• 0-to-62 in 5.4 seconds
• 171-mph top speed
• Gifted steering, suspension and brakes
• $58,900 base price

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Source:
Introducing the Boxster We'd All Been Hoping For
Richard Homan
Edmund's Inside Line  10-06-2005
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=107500#3

Posted at 01:01 PM in Automobiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Another ear worm:

Magnet_and_Steel.mp3

Know who recorded this? Can you tell who that is on backing vocals? (Pretty distinctive voice)
Here's a hint: the song was recorded in 1977.

The song was in Boogie Nights (1997).

Matthew Sweet did an interesting cover 1998.

Answer:   Here

Buy his album!

Posted at 09:39 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ig Nobel winners:

Medicine - Gregg Miller from the US for his invention of Neuticles - rubber replacement testicles for neutered dogs that are available in varying sizes and degrees of firmness. "Considering my parents thought I was an idiot when I was a kid, this is a great honour," said Mr Miller.

Peace - A UK team for their pioneering research into the activity of locusts' brain cells while the insects watched clips from the Star Wars films.

Physics - John Maidstone from Australia for his part in an experiment that began in 1927 in which a glob of black tar drips through a funnel every nine years. Mr Maidstone shared the prize with a late colleague who died sometime after the second drop.

Biology - The University of Adelaide for "painstakingly smelling and cataloguing the peculiar odours produced by 131 different species of frogs when the frogs were feeling stressed".

Chemistry - A University of Minnesota team who set out to prove whether people can swim faster in water or sugar syrup.

Economics - A Massachusetts inventor who designed an alarm clock that runs away and hides when it goes off.

Nutrition - A Japanese researcher who photographed and analysed every meal he had consumed during a period of 34 years.

Literature - The many Nigerians who introduced millions of e-mail users to a "cast of rich characters... each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled".

Agricultural History - A study entitled The Significance of Mr Richard Buckley's Exploding Trousers: Reflections on an Aspect of Technological Change in New Zealand Dairy-Farming between the World Wars.

Fluid Dynamics - Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh - Calculations on Avian Defecation.

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Sources:
The 2005 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony
The Annals of Improbable Research, October 6, 2005, 7:30 pm.
http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-top.html

Penguin poo wins Ig Nobel prize
Friday, 7 October 2005, 12:46 GMT 13:46 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4318888.stm

Posted at 06:10 PM in Humor, Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Not the children!

An Omaho man apparently didn't care for his neighbors complaining about his overgrown lawn. In response to their complaints to the City, he mowed a giant F U C K  Y O U into his grass.

Somehow, that failed to mollify them.

Now, the neighborhood is lamenting the poor children, athough I'm pretty sure most of them have heard the word. If recent surveys are reliable, half of them over 15 have likely engaged in the verb, and the other half has figured out alternatives. Something to think about the next time you get annoyed by one of the your neighbors.

Won't someone please send me a photo of this?

click photo for newscast video:

I find this extremely funny, because a) it is;  2) its a reminder not to whine at your neighbors; III) Man, must they be bored out of their minds in Omaha to think this sophmoric stunt up.   Still, funny is funny, and I gotta give this guy credit (Until his neighbors burn his house down!).

Here's the fuinniest part of all: it turns out that passive speech is protected by the First Amendment:

City prosecutor Marty Conboy said little can be done legally about the yard.

"There really is no criminal law that covers these kinds of vulgarities," Conboy said.
Conboy said it would be different if the homeowner threatened city employees by saying the expletive, but on the lawn, it's a passive statement protected by the First Amendment.
"As much as you might shake your head at what kind of reasoning is involved, it's not prohibited," Conboy said. "A person who wants to make a statement in public, that doesn't invoke a violent response, is protected by the constitution."

Conboy said he is "disappointed" that someone would use his First Amendment rights in such a manner.

City codes dictate that lawns taller than 10 inches can be ticketed, but Parks and Planning officials said that unless the grass that formed the expletive met that criterion, there was nothing they could do to force its removal.

There's a few life lessons in this story for everyone involved!

Sources:
Video: 
http://www.theomahachannel.com/video/4971429/detail.html

Neighbors Find Obscenity Mowed Into Lawn
Parents Worry For Children Who See Message
POSTED: 9:33 am CDT September 14, 2005
http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/4971571/detail.html

Posted at 10:39 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How often do you see one of these?

via National Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0913_050913_whitegiraffe.html

close up:

Posted at 12:02 PM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack