Weekend Open Mic

Weekend. Yep.

Using Apostrophe’s

A detailed flowchart.

Faithful Still Wowed By Shroud

People really, really want to believe: Researcher says text proves Shroud of Turin real.

A Vatican researcher claims a nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin proves the authenticity of the artifact revered as Jesus' burial cloth.

The claim made in a new book by historian Barbara Frale drew immediate skepticism from some scientists, who maintain the shroud is a medieval forgery.

Frale, a researcher at the Vatican archives, said Friday that she used computers to enhance images of faintly written words in Greek, Latin and Aramaic scattered across the shroud.

She asserts the words include the name "Jesus Nazarene" in Greek, proving the text could not be of medieval origin because no Christian at the time, even a forger, would have labeled Jesus a Nazarene without referring to his divinity.

Even more compelling: If you look very close you see the small type, "All Rights Reserved."

(Thanks Blayne)

Mass We Pray

Seems like a pretty good idea.

The Museum of Hoaxes claims that it's a hoax. I'm praying that it's real.

Psssst… Don’t Eat The Kebabs

In Moscow: Body parts sold to kebab stand.

Russian police have arrested three homeless people suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and selling other bits of the corpse to a local kebab house.

Suspicions were raised when dismembered parts of a human body were found near a bus stop in the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm, 720 miles east of Moscow.

Three homeless men with previous criminal records have been arrested on suspicion of setting upon a foe with knives and a hammer before chopping up his corpse to eat, local investigators said in a statement.

"After carrying out the crime, the corpse was divided up: part was eaten and part was also sold to a kiosk selling kebabs and pies," the prosecutor's main investigative unit for the Perm region said.

The yummy-looking kebabs shown here are just random kebabs. Probably not even in Russia.

Clark Sisters

The Clark Sisters are way overdue for a new album. I've just about worn out my copy of Beauty Shop Beat.

My favorite track is, "I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Conditioner Is In." But I also like their version of "Hoochie Coochie Manicure."

( source)

Interview With Meg_Mac

Today's interview features a prolific commenter.

How did you first hear of the J-Walk Blog, and how long have you been reading it?

I think I was actually searching for penalties of j-walking. I saw this blog and the by-line 'Stuff that may or may not interest you' I thought well lets see if I am interested. I was and became immediately addicted. I love the eclectic mix of topics and commentators.

What's the significance of your screen name?

Screen name is a mish-mash of my real name. It was my email at work.

Do you read this blog from work or at home? How many times a day?

Home exclusively although I have peeked from hotel business centers.

Basic stats?

I am s si six (somebody pound me on the back!) Married. I worked for Lsi Logic for 17 years. Got laid off in 2001. I started as a wafer sort operator. Moved to Fab and was an oxide and metal etcher then when to mask alignment. Product Engineering was my main job until I moved to FA. My last few years were spent in Failure Analysis receiving pin ball grid array failures from customer site and reworking and electrical testing.

Send a copy of the weirdest photo of yourself that you can find

I can't believe I actually wore those glasses. What was I thinking? They covered my whole face. I think I threw them away when I went through menopause. They kept steaming up on me effectively blinding me. That's my youngest son Mike at his Honor awards ceremony.

Have you ever met any of the other commenters? Would you like to?

I have talked to Don Coyote via email as well as Spokane Mary. I would love to meet everyone. I imagine all the time about what people look like and what they look like when they are tapping away at the keyboard.

How many different places have you lived in?

Born in Fresno moved to Bay Area when my father went to work for Lockheed. Moved to Maui with hubby and kids in 1976-1982. Loved it until they started building hotels on all the beautiful beaches. Now too many hotels and too too many rich people stinking up the place then leaving.

What other blogs to you follow?

The usual liberal blogs. HuffPo. ThinkProgress, Media Matters, Bob Cesca Awesome Blog, FireDogLake, Slate Magazine.

I really appreciate the links from people here. Curtis is phenomenal with his links. I have thanked him before but would like to thank him again here. I try to follow everyone's link when they are making there points. Its an incredibly rich source. I have learned a lot.

Which are your favorite topics covered at the J-Walk Blog?

Any and all topics. I love the mix. Nothing is un-favorite.

Who is your favorite J-Walk Blog commenter (other than yourself), and why?

How can one choose? I loved Curtis' bacon reviews. Bisbonian is amazing. Don Coyote and Spokane Mary are friends (imho) I always read Volt's thoughts and Minderbender makes me guffaw routinely. banjo brad is a sentimental fav since he is a central Californian though he lives in Arizona. Gee, Mean Jean, Wendy, Miss Cellania all truly interesting and cogent commentators.

What is your favorite type of music?

Jazz all the time any time. Fav's Pat Metheny. Current listening to 'Down to the Bone' a group out of Britain.

On your tombstone?

Why did you put me in the ground?

Was there ever a J-Walk post that you found so offensive you temporarily stopping visiting the blog?

I got pissed of at John for deleting a comment and yelling at me. I vowed I would never return. That lasted one day.

Which celebrity would you most like to have a beer with?

Frank Sinatra if I could put a truth serum in it. That would be one interesting convo.

What is the strangest thing you believe?

If you drink black coffee as a child you will have black knees as an adult. I listened to everything my mom told me.

Why don't you play the banjo?

Tone deaf? I would rather listen I guess.

Don’t Leave Tip, Get Arrested

In Pennsylvania: Couple Busted for Refusing to Pay Tip.

If you're frustrated by poor service at a restaurant, think twice before you decide to not tip. You may be in for a bit more than just a dirty look from the waiter.

"Nobody, nobody wants to be forced to pay a tip or be arrested for terrible service," Leslie Pope said when her happy hour ended in handcuffs. Pope and John Wagner were hauled away by police and charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 percent gratuity totaling $16 after eating at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa. with six friends.

Pope claimed that they had to wait nearly an hour for their order and that she had to get napkins and silverware for the table herself. "At this point I became very annoyed because I had already gone up to the bar myself to have my soda refilled because the waitress never came back," Pope said.

After the $73 bill came, the group paid for food, drinks, and tax but refused to pay the tip. After explaining the bad service to the bartender in charge, Pope claimed he took their money and called police. The couple was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

People have been posting their reviews (and photos) of the Lehigh Pub at Yelp.

No Replies From Santa

Think of the children! Popular Santa letter program ends in Alaska.

Starry-eyed children writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season likely won't get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers.

The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular national program begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. Replies come with North Pole postmarks.

Why?

Last year, a postal worker in Maryland recognized an Operation Santa volunteer there as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child's letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to tighten rules in such programs nationwide...

North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson agreed that caution is necessary to protect children. But he's outraged North Pole program should be affected by a sex offender's actions on the East Coast - and he thinks it's wrong that locals just found out about the change in recent days.

Who Is This Guy?

He chose to use this as his official photo.

He's semi-well known in some circles.

Advances In Child Discipline

In Arkansas: Cop tases 10-year old girl.

An Arkansas cop tasered an unruly 10-year-old girl after her mother called police to report that the child was crying, screaming, and refusing to go to bed. The tased girl, Kiara Medlock, is about 65 pounds and 4' 6", according to her father. Anthony Medlock, a truck driver who does not live with the fifth grader and her mother, provided TSG with a recent photo of his daughter, which can be seen at right.

 According to the below Ozark Police Department report, when Officer Dustin Bradshaw arrived at the residence last Thursday, he found the girl "screaming, kicking, and resisting every time her mother tried to touch her." Bradshaw added that, "Her mother told me to tase her if I needed to." After Kiara continued to refuse her mother's instructions, the cop concluded that "there was not going to be a peaceful resolution of the issue." Bradshaw warned the girl that she was "going to jail," but the child continued kicking and crying and resisted his attempt to handcuff her.

In the end, it all worked out:

During the tussle, Kiara "struck me with her legs and feet in the groin, reported Bradshaw, who countered with a brief "stun to her back" with his Taser. The child, not surprisingly, "immediately stopped resisting and was placed into handcuffs.

Toothbrush Tattoo

This could be a very effective tattoo if the two ends actually lined up.

Found at Ugliest Tattoos.

Lost Monster Hop

Banjo by Michael Berard, fiddle by Heather Schnarr. Directed by Jody Kramer and produced by the National Film Board of Canada: Lost Monster Hop.

At a signpost by the railway tracks, a tidy little banjo-picking monster is trying to find her way. She sets out on a journey and finds what she is looking for...in a rather surprising way.

It's under 90 seconds, so make sure you stick around for the dancing pie.

(Thanks wormpicker)

Watch Out For Web Seals

Shopping online? Be wary of Web seals and user reviews.

Don't trust Web seals. You might think that the Web seal on a retail site is a sign of the merchant's integrity. Not necessarily.

Sure, they look fun and friendly, but you can't trust 'em -- especially when they form a herd.

And more seals don't equal better service. We found one seal-laden e-commerce site that received an F from the Better Business Bureau.

Buy Book, Get Free Walnuts

In Santa Cruz: Palin's book comes with a bag of nuts at bookshop.

By golly, a downtown bookstore has found a way to poke fun at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and draw attention to her new book released this week, "Going Rogue: An American Life."

Several copies of Palin's book, about her experience as John McCain's running mate in 2008 and life in Alaska, are stacked on the checkout counter at Bookshop Santa Cruz next to a bowl filled with small bags of walnuts -- a 2-for-1 special of sorts.

Customers who buy Palin's book, priced at $29 in hardcover, also get a free bag of "Just Plain Nutz."

Question: Which of these 11 definitions of rogue did Palin have in mind when she came up with that title?