Posted by admin on Jan 21, 2008 in
Forteana,
Found photos This photo reminds me of an old joke.
Joe Schmo, an agnostic dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter is showing him around. “That cloud over there, with the fruit trees and fountains is where the Muslims are, and that cloud over there with all the bald ladies meditating is for the Buddhists. You can just barely see the Zorastrians behind them” Joe points to cloud with a very high-very thick wall around it.
“Hey Pete, whats up with that cloud with the big wall?” Pete cringes.
“Shhh, keep it down. That cloud is for the Christians. They think they’re the only ones here.”
Conan, the Praying Dog
Friday, January 18, 2008| www.metro.co.uk
Conan the praying dog folds his paws in prayer alongside a Buddhist priest at Shuri-kannondo temple in Naha city, Okinawa province, Japan.
The eighteen month old long haired chihuahua stands up in prayer when the temple priest performs his sutras.
Apparently, Conan also prays before going out for walks, or before feeding time.
Conan was named after the mystery writer, Arthur Conan Doyle. Not, sadly, Conan the Barbarian.
Posted by admin on Jan 18, 2008 in
Fashion,
Foolery,
Forteana Graziano Cecchini is my kind of funster! He had a BALL at the Spanish Steps in Rome this week, ha ha ha. I’ve also included photos of when he dyed the Trevi Fountain Red in October 2007. Oh I wonder what sort of similar mischief YOU’d do in your town? Mr Cecchini is in the top photo.
Spanish Steps covered in balls by Italian artist
www.telegraph.co.uk | By Malcolm Moore in Rome | Last Updated: 17/01/2008
Five hundred thousand brightly coloured plastic balls bounced down the Spanish Steps in Rome in a stunt by an anarchic artist.
Graziano Cecchini, said each of the plastic balls “represented a lie told by a politician”.
The clean-up begins after the stunt by artist Graziano Cecchini
He claimed it had cost him around £15,000 to turn the Spanish Steps into a scene from a children’s playground.
Delighted tourists grabbed the balls as mementoes as they collected at the base of the steps, in the Fountain of the Old Boat by Pietro Bernini.
As Mr Cecchini walked down the steps, with balls bouncing around him, he added: “I am leaving for Burma, these balls will help the Karen people.”
The Karen, an ethnic minority descended from Tibetan refugees, have fought for an independent state since 1949 and accuse the military junta of ethnic cleansing.
Police were called to the incident after 500 balls were dropped on the Spanish Steps.
Last October, Mr Cecchini gained notoriety after colouring the Trevi Fountain with blood red dye.
At the time he said he wanted to highlight the plight of penniless artists in Italy.
Jean Leonard Touadi, the city’s head of security, said: “This behaviour is unacceptable. To err is human, but to persevere is diabolical. Trying to get publicity at the city’s cost is not funny.”
The police closed off the Piazza Spagna so the area could be cleaned.
Mr Cecchini is likely to be fined for his action.
Last June, a 24-year-old Colombian man attempted to drive his Toyota Celica down the steps at high speed, chipping some of the marble.
Posted by admin on Jan 17, 2008 in
Forteana Several road movies have featured grandparents dying en route, and now it’s happened in real life. Luckily, the families’ action are not criminal. It is sort of sweet they took an ailing Nana to visit relatives-surely to say goodbye. It’s only been a generation or two that Americans have been so distant from their newly dead. The “parlour” was very often the room where your dead loved ones were laid out on a “cooling board” perhaps after being bathed and dressed by kin.
This story leaves me craving details. How many people were in the RV? What ages were they? Where did they place Grandma for the trip from Arkansas to Oregon? Can I see a map with a dotted line of their trip?
This story most mimics National Lampoon’s Vacation, where Grammy died en route to visit family – her dead body carried on the roof of the Grizwold family truckster. Imogene Coca was such a great actress in that role I’m including a photo of her here, and placing it over a station wagon.
Family finishes RV trip with grandmother’s body
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 | MICHAEL ROLLINS and JOHN SNELL | The Oregonian
HILLSBORO — An Arkansas family trying to fulfill an ailing grandmother’s last request arrived in Hillsboro early Sunday with the grandmother’s body in the back of their recreational vehicle, police said.
The woman apparently died in Wyoming, and her family completed the trip.
The 79-year-old woman, who lived in Oroville, Calif., suffered from advanced kidney disease and wished to see her family before she died, Hillsboro Police Lt. Michael Rouches said.
Rouches said the woman’s family picked her up in Oroville, drove her to visit family in Arkansas and were on their way to see other family in Hillsboro when she died.
The woman was last seen alive by the family about 3 a.m. Saturday near Laramie, Wyo., he said.
“We believe they were about 1,100 miles from Hillsboro when she passed away,” Rouches said. “We believe they were in Wyoming. That’s based on gas receipts.”
Rouches said the woman’s doctors told family members the frail grandmother might not survive the trip.
Hillsboro police were called about 9 a.m. Sunday.
Rouches emphasized that the death was not a police matter, despite its seemingly unusual nature, because no law had been broken. Because it was not a police matter, Rouches did not release the woman’s name.
“People die every day,” Rouches said. This could happen more frequently than we know.” He said Hillsboro police were called by family members who drove her to Oregon because they wanted to report the death to authorities.
“We’re a first responder,” he said. “If you have a problem, you call the police, the fire department or an ambulance. They could have called an ambulance, but what’s the point? The person was already deceased. Calling the cops is the default position.”
Rouches said the situation is being examined by detectives but added that he didn’t expect any action to be taken. He said the family routinely traveled together, and there is no reason to suspect foul play.
“I’ve looked through all the Oregon statutes,” he said. “This is not a crime.”
Posted by admin on Jan 16, 2008 in
Foolery 
Every webmaster and blogger has access to stats about their site. This is my fave search that has lead readers to MissFidget.com “digestive system of the butt” ha ha ha ha
Posted by admin on Jan 16, 2008 in
Fashion The next time you’re in Toronto, be sure to check out the Bata Shoe Museum. Until then-enjoy some samples from their vast collection and copy from their site. Looks like they collect shoes from the famous as well as noteworthy historical and ethnographic footwear.
Discover the treasures of North America’s charming and surprising shoe museum. Over 10,000 shoes are housed in architect Raymond Moriyama’s award-winning four-storey structure. The Museum celebrates the style and function of footwear in four impressive galleries. Footwear on exhibit ranges from Chinese bound foot shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to chestnut-crushing clogs and glamourous platforms. Over 4,500 years of history and a collection of 20th-century celebrity shoes are reflected in the semi-permanent exhibition, All About Shoes.
Posted by admin on Jan 15, 2008 in
Forteana So many sane, sober, serious people in Texas have seen “something” big and metallic in the sky the story is being taken seriously by a usually skeptical press. Best wishes for the small town residents who are bewildered by an odd sight and are about to besieged by kooks and the press. Readers please note: people who live in rural areas are not necessarily less intelligent or more gullible. They just like a little more room between themselves and their neighbors and may love the outdoors more. Most of the UFOs have been spotted in Erath County, which as an anagram of earth leads one to wonder if there were an intergalactic typo somewhere.
Standing near the area where he saw a large silent object in the sky, Ricky Sorrells talks about the sighting, Monday, Jan.14, 2008 in Dublin, Texas.(AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)
Dozens in Texas Town Report Seeing UFO
January 15, 2008 | Associated Press | By ANGELA K. BROWN
STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — In this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of what many believe is a UFO.
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
“People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it’s the end of times,” said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. “It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts.”
While federal officials insist there’s a logical explanation, locals swear that it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object’s lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
“You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal,” Sorrells said. “It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I’m not crazy.”
Sorrells said he has seen the object several times. He said he watched it through his rifle’s telescopic lens and described it as very large and without seams, nuts or bolts.
Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, said no F-16s or other aircraft from his base were in the area the night of Jan. 8, when most people reported the sighting.
Lewis said the object may have been an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may appear orange from the setting sun.
“I’m 90 percent sure this was an airliner,” Lewis said. “With the sun’s angle, it can play tricks on you.”
Officials at the region’s two Air Force bases — Dyess in Abilene and Sheppard in Wichita Falls — also said none of their aircraft were in the area last week. The Air Force no longer investigates UFOs.
One man has offered a reward for a photograph or videotape of the mysterious object.
About 200 UFO sightings are reported each month, mostly in California, Colorado and Texas, according to the Mutual UFO Network, which plans to go to the 17,000-resident town of Stephenville to investigate.
Fourteen percent of Americans polled last year by The Associated Press and Ipsos say they have seen a UFO.
Erath County Constable Lee Roy Gaitan said that he first saw red glowing lights and then white flashing lights moving fast, but that even with binoculars could not see the object to which the lights were attached.
“I didn’t see a flying saucer and I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t an airplane, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gaitan said. “I think it must be some kind of military craft — at least I hope it was.”
Posted by admin on Jan 15, 2008 in
Feloniousness I’m a little late in posting this story-but its a lu-lu. The top photo is one of the roomies who wheeled the dead guy to the check cashing place. The second is the check cashing place. The bottom photo is a totally different dead guy who was left in a chair outside the Superdome after the Hurricane Katrina fiasco. I provide his photo to show what an older dead guy in a chair looks like, and to remind all yall parts of the USA are still messed up from Hurricane Katrina.
Corpse Wheeled to Check-Cashing Store Leads to 2 Arrests
January 9, 2008 | By BRUCE LAMBERT and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Even for the once-notorious Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, it may have been a first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man’s Social Security check, the police said.
When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355 check, the police said.
They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that resembled the plot of “Weekend at Bernie’s,” a film about two young men who prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive.
“Hell’s Kitchen has a rich history,” said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, “but this is one for the books.”
There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron’s death, he added.
The roommate, James P. O’Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron’s body in the chair and wheeled it around the corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized.
They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said.
“He is outside,” Mr. O’Hare said, indicating the body in the chair, according to Mr. Browne.
The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late.
Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North station house.
Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.
The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud.
Mr. Cintron’s body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner’s office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural causes within the past 24 hours.
Al Baker contributed reporting.
Posted by admin on Jan 15, 2008 in
Found photos I love these photos. I found them here, or if that link expires at www.sun-sentinel.com in the entertainment section.
Posted by admin on Jan 15, 2008 in
Found photos I love these photos. I found them here, or if that link expires at www.sun-sentinel.com in the entertainment section.
Posted by admin on Jan 14, 2008 in
Found photos I love these photos. I found them here, or if that link expires at www.sun-sentinel.com in the entertainment section.
Posted by admin on Jan 9, 2008 in
Feloniousness,
Forteana 
If only this horse cop were there to break up the fight. This story is old but funny as hell.
Police hunt panto cow and horse following drunken Halloween fight
www.sundaymail.co.uk | Nov 2 2008 | By Jim Lawson
TWO party-goers dressed as a pantomime horse and cow were being hunted by police last night over a drunken Halloween fight.
The bizarre pair were caught up in a brawl with two other men and a woman after a fancy dress party.
During the violent clash, the group spilled on to a main road and disrupted traffic.
One man was taken to hospital where he was detained overnight with injuries described as “not life-threatening”.
Last night a police spokesman appealed for witnesses to the incident in Nairn.
A Northern Constabulary spokesman said: “Two of the men were in fancy dress outfits – one was dressed as a cow wearing a brown hat and the other as a horse wearing a straw hat.
“Both men are described as stocky/heavily built.”
Another police source told the Sunday Mail: “My colleagues are deadly serious about this… this is no laughing matter.”
The booze-fuelled rammy took place between the town’s Old Parish Church and The Farmers’ Showfield.
The fancy dress thugs had earlier been at a Halloween party in the Braeval Hotel’s Bandstand Bar – but did not win prizes .
A barmaid, who declined to be named, said: “They were in here and they were having a great time. They were mixing with the other customers but left quite early.
“I don’t know where they went from here. They looked great but they did not win a prize.
“All I know is that they were local and really enjoying Halloween.”