Archive for the ‘Weird news’ Category
I bought it on eBay
It would be hard to estimate how much money I’ve wasted on eBay. Most of my mistakes have been minor, thank goodness. Others—a Coach purse, some Timberland boots, and a handful of cameras—I’ve been able to resell. But a couple of my eBay purchases have been so hideous that the only appropriate response was to […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Friends and family, Psychology, Weird news | 9 Comments
Tags: attempted humor, eBay, humor, I bought it on eBay, postaday2011, Speedo, unintentional humor, Weird Al Yankovic
The Farkin’ news, on Facebook
When I (grudgingly) joined Facebook last year, one of the things that most surprised me was how much news my friends posted. Actual news news! But—as interesting as the articles have been—they’ve consistently paled in comparison to my friends’ witty commentaries. “I wonder how he’ll stay hydrated,” wrote one journalist buddy of the headline Harry […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Psychology, Weird news, Writing | Leave a Comment
Tags: alcoholism, Daniel Radcliffe, Facebook, Fark, Harry Potter star no longer drinks, journalism, postaday2011, Psychology, writing
Just fling me over the fence
My first byline was an obituary. It was 1997 and I was working on the City Desk at the local paper. “We’re short an obit writer today,” the editor said. “Want to fill in?” I no longer remember the name of the deceased. But I do remember having to write a correction for the following […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Friends and family, Paris, Psychology, Random thoughts, Weird news | 15 Comments
Tags: attempted humor, cause of death, death by saguaro, death notices, editing, how we die, Johnny Depp, journalism, obituary, obituary writing, postaday2011, Psychology, Utne Reader, writing
I feel terrible. If only I’d seen Thessa’s Facebook invitation—and if only I’d been in Hamburg—I’d gladly have stopped by to help her celebrate her birthday. Sing with me, everyone: Hoch soll sie leben! Oh, well … she probably didn’t miss me. Because 15,000 other people said they were coming, and 1,500 actually showed up. […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Friends and family, On this day in history, Psychology, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Tags: 16th birthday party, Facebook, Hamburg, postaday2011, privacy settings blunder, Thessa birthday party
Is it a beard—or is it art?
To my faithful subscribers: I’ve been pretty disciplined about starting a post every day, but I haven’t always finished my drafts. Please forgive a few extra entries as I go back in time to wrap up some loose ends. I know only a couple of men who sport facial hair. And of these, my favorite […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Psychology, Travel, Weird news | 2 Comments
Tags: humor, Photography, postaday2011, Psychology, World Beard and Moustache Championship
Of baseball and hobbits
My friend Tom (aka., “The Blogfodder”) sent me a wonderful post from Deadspin last night: The New York Times Pushes Up Its Glasses, Issues Nerdiest Correction Ever “An item in the Extra Bases baseball notebook last Sunday misidentified, in some editions, the origin of the name Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver, which Mets pitcher R. A. Dickey […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Friends and family, Psychology, Weird news, Writing | 4 Comments
Tags: Bilbo Baggins, Frodo, New York Mets, New York Times, postaday2011, R. A. Dickey, The Hobbit
I’ve been waiting for years to use Schadenfreude in print, and finally I’ve found the perfect occasion: the Found Footage Festival. (In a nutshell … Two guys scour garage sales and second-hand stores for discarded VHS tapes, and then edit their finds together into an annual feature-length film.) My friend Laurice discovered the FFF last […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Friends and family, Psychology, Weird news | 2 Comments
Tags: Found Footage Festival, postaday2011
It’s been a long day and I have nothing left, so I hope my three readers will forgive a bit of news aggregation instead of my usual rambling examination of life. There’s a ton going on in the news, of course: New Zealand is dealing with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and a Dutch […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Psychology, Weird news | 7 Comments
Tags: Charlie Sheen, humor, postaday2011
Yesterday I heard about a woman who fell into a shopping mall fountain because she was text-messaging (“texting”) while walking. Today I heard that she has hired a lawyer, and plans to sue. Among her allegations: She feels humiliated. Hmmm. The video didn’t identify her by name. But now she’s (very publicly) taking legal action. […]
Filed under: Ethics, Psychology, Random thoughts, Technology, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Tags: personal responsibility, postaday2011, texting, woman falls into fountain, woman suing mall
Be engaging *and* amazing
Last week, an email from my friend Tom (aka., “The Blogfodder”) made me laugh out loud: Engaging. Formerly associated with starry-eyed postpubescent couples or the mechanism used to deliver power to the drive apparatus of a machine such as a corn-picker, “engaging” has found new relevance as the adjective of choice for one of the […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Grammar and usage, Psychology, Random thoughts, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Tags: corporatespeak, postaday2011, Visualthesaurus.com
HBlog: 2010 in review
I got an unexpected email today from the “stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com.” I was relieved to hear that they think my blog is in good health. But I was especially intrigued to read some of the statistics the monkeys compiled: Crunchy numbers A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, On this day in history, Psychology, Weird news, Writing | Leave a Comment
OK, so maybe not “besieged.” Not exactly “attacked,” either. “Visited” seems a little clunky. But there were definitely some lights in the sky last night. To hear my über-excitable colleague describe it, something extraordinary happened over Minnesota’s capital city. But after watching the video, the only word that comes to my mind is “huh?” Yep, […]
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It’s not uncommon for police officers, SWAT teams, firefighters, hospitals, and even corporations to do disaster-preparedness drills. Today Zimbabwe took it one step further. This morning, its Aviation Ministry officials deliberately misinformed news organizations that a Boeing 767 arriving from London had been involved in an accident at the Harare airport. They then set a […]
Filed under: Psychology, Weird news | Leave a Comment
All things must pass
Sometimes it’s humbling to realize how much we humans don’t understand. Other times it’s downright frightening. I stumbled across and article today in the Christian Science Monitor titled Earth’s upper atmosphere collapses. Nobody knows why. Granted, the article’s title is a little alarmist. The atmosphere has actually contracted, not collapsed. But still … it really […]
Filed under: Technology, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Mullet madness
Is it just me, or has the world gone mad? Earlier this week, Iran officially banned the mullet. You know, the mullet—that international symbol of western hedonism and vice. Meanwhile, they’re still stoning people to death. Wow. This morning, I read that the U.S. and Russia swapped spies in Vienna. When asked on The Tonight […]
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Kanellos, the protesting pooch
Today a colleague forwarded a blog post about a dog in Athens who purportedly hasn’t missed a riot since 2008. “That’s gotta be Photoshopped,” I said. “Naw, look at the shadows,” he replied. But I wasn’t convinced. With a little time and a bit of skill, anyone can fake a shadow. The story smelled of […]
Filed under: Photography, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Two great reads
It’s been a hectic week. In trying to keep up with the world around me, I’ve had little time for thinking my own thoughts. That’s one of the tough things about writing for a living: It pretty much occupies your life. But in the midst of all the din, two items brightened my day. The […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Weird news, Writing | Leave a Comment
You’ve no doubt noticed the apparent rash of earthquakes over the past few months. Some people are hypothesizing that this could be a sign of the coming Apocalypse, or of Christ’s impending return. Others contend that strong earthquakes aren’t really all that anomalous. Fortunately, there’s a voice of reason emerging from all this seismic chaos: […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, On this day in history, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Tags: earthquakes, End Times
Masterful marketing
Every so often I spot a brilliant marketing idea and think, “Wow. I wish I’d thought of that.” Such was the case today when I happened upon a story about a woman in New Zealand who recently made almost $2,000 by auctioning off two “spirits” (an old man and a young girl) she had allegedly […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Tags: Eternal Earth-Bound Pet, The Rapture
