1. Dusty Springfield - Breakfast In Bed
2. Black Box Recorder - Brutality
3. Soulive - Morning Light
4. The Crystal Method - Comin' Back
5. Hidria Spacefolk - Symetria
6. Panjabi MC - Sweeter
7. Beastie Boys - B For My Name
8. Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
9. Tangerine Dream - Origins of Supernatural Probabilities
10. Depeche Mode - Black Celebration

Labels: friday random ten

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PLAINFIELD, N.J. (October 21 2005) -- Six Foot Snake Found In Toilet

A blocked drain at a home in North Plainfield, N.J., led to the discovery of a 6-foot snake in a family's toilet. Pete and Debbie Bias suspected there was a problem with their home's plumbing system after nearly a week of messy backups. The blockage moved mysteriously from the toilet in the basement to the second-floor bathroom, according to the report. The couple decided to move the toilet off its base to investigate the problem and found a 6-foot Brazilian Rainbow Boa named "Freddy."

"I called my wife over, she took a look at it and she said, 'Yeah, it looks like we have a snake in the drain,'" Pete Bias said. Police called in a local pet store owner Craig Ost to remove the reptile. "Luckily I grabbed it by the head," Ost said. "If I grabbed it by the tail, the thing probably would have scurried down the drain." It was not determined how Freddy wound up in the toilet but the Bias family suspects it entered the home through the sewer system.

Okay...it's old news. But tell me you don't appreciate a Monday good laugh at the expense of New Jersey.

Labels: humor, NJ

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• I hate to say "I told you so," but it sounds as though there is evidence that implanted RFID chips may be linked to the development of cancerous tumors, at least in animals. Some counter that the glass-encased RFID implants are merely passive devices, and do not emit energy or signals unless triggered by a proximate RFID reader device. My take: 1) is it possible that there is enough electromagnetic energy in the ambient atmosphere to cause the copper coil antennas in these devices to emit some "signal" even in the absence of a trigger from an RFID reader - which may be a yet-unknown health hazard? 2) What if the implanted glass capsules themselves may be causing the tumors? Stay tuned; the jury's not in yet on this one.
• Too cute for words: the Ukrainian melon-eating kitten [via Neatorama]
• Art, or dinner? Girls With Meat Hair, an art installation by Julia Kissina
• Not your typical NPR story: woman claims to have found the Chupacabra
• The "I Am Legend" Archive - Richard Matheson's story inspired the schlocky 1971 Charlton Heston cult hit, the "The Omega Man," which I once saw on TV when I was around five or so...I used to get that film confused with another one that featured cannibalistic, pasty-faced pyrophobic night dwellers - "The Time Machine." Yay for cult movies!
• CourtTV News: Bald Man Caught Running Away From Pharmacy With Hair-Loss Products
• What can happen if you place metal objects in the vicinity of an MRI machine? Bad things, very bad things that are fun to watch. [Google Video]
• Selling Chicago: Your Ad on Everything in the City, thanks to Mayor Daley? Could we at least get some CTA money out of it, huh?

Labels: links du jour

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  * Arlene: Dolls really scare some people. Not usually me, but this picture does.
* Ryan Thompson: The "War on Christmas" is inside Bill O'Reilly's head.
* James: Any wagering on when "wide stance" enters the Oxford English Dictionary?
* Alan Truism: I recently discovered Liver Cheese in my local grocer's deli section and am quite delighted with it....
* J.A.: I'm guilty of several things on your list, though we're going to marry too because we're likely to m...
* gregor: that looks like it was taken just after crossing the Walt Whittman into NJ from Philly.
* Dajvid: Rumor has it that Marianna Faithful is god. Can you confirm?

Labels: humor

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  Seen scratched into the stall wall in the UC Bookstore ladies' room:



All it takes is a few careless jokes: you get the sidewalk laughing, and next thing you know...



I thinks the persons who is responsible will thinks its ment to be offensive.

Labels: chicago, humor, photo

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Just received this in my inbox, bereft of explication:

It is important to note that the placement of the humps is determined by a multitude of factors including location of catch basins, and most important, the dimensions of the block to ensure a regular hump location pattern. In other words, it is almost impossible to guarantee that humps will not be placed in front of any specific building.

Eh?

Ooops, wrong Alanis Morrissette video: I guess the e-mailer was referring to the new speed humps (otherwise known as "speed bumps" in the the rest of the civilized world) that will be installed in my 'hood soon.

Labels: chicago, humor, video

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  Any of you Midwestern folks out there have a funny feeling last week? You know, that something might have fallen out of the sky? Nope, no reason. Just askin'. From WIRED News:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday. The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force probe, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell. He said, "At no time was the public in danger."

Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the mishandling of the weapons "deeply disturbing" and said the committee would press the military for details. Rep. Edward J. Markey, a senior member of the Homeland Security committee, said it was "absolutely inexcusable. Nothing like this has ever been reported before and we have been assured for decades that it was impossible." ...

The plane was carrying Advanced Cruise Missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a Defense Department policy not to confirm information on nuclear weapons. The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber's wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand.

This reminds me of an apocryphal story/urban legend I once heard regarding a nuclear near-catastrophe that supposedly occurred at Plattsburgh Air (NY) Force Base - once a strategic missile site - in the late 1980's, where a technician accidentally armed an ICBM warhead during routine maintenance. Allegedly, the error was discovered and corrected only minutes before the warhead was set to detonate.

I haven't found any independent evidence to corroborate the story, but it still gives me the willies to think what might have happened: at the time was living in Plattsburgh, barely a mile from the facility.

Labels: nuclear

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