Olympian Tatoos
Michael Phelps has two tattoos peeking out of his trunks – one of the Olympic rings, the other an M for his home state, Maryland
More here
Add comment August 19th, 2008
Archive for August 19th, 2008
Puerto Rico corpse kept upright for 3-day wake
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing — even in death.
A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.
Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother’s living room.
His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: “He wanted to be happy, standing.”
The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son’s last wish.
Pantoja was found dead Friday underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried Monday. Police are investigating.
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Grief Tourism
Grief-tourism.com provides information on travel destinations that were or are popular with grief tourists.
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Spaghetti Cat
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Puppy Yelps I Want Out!
1 comment August 19th, 2008
Frisco man says HOA won’t let him park pickup on driveway
If there’s one thing Texans are serious about, it’s pickups.
But a Frisco man says his truck is being targeted simply because his homeowners association doesn’t think it’s classy enough.
Jim Greenwood said he never dreamed his HOA would have a problem with his new Ford F-150 pickup. Then he received the first of three notices threatening him with fines.
“Mr. Greenwood, you’re violating a subdivision rule that prohibits pickup trucks in your driveway,” the notice reads.
Stonebriar HOA rules allow several luxury trucks on driveways, including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Avalanche, Honda Ridgeline and Lincoln Mark LT.
But most Ford, Dodge or Chevy pickups are restricted.
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Newlyweds are Tasered, arrested at reception melee, and again two days late
The wedding was on a Michigan beach, the reception was in an art gallery — but a former Chicago couple’s wedding night was spent in separate jail cells after both bride and groom got shocked by a police Taser and arrested at their raucous reception.
Andy Somora and Anna Pastuszwska’s July 19 wedding reception in tiny Lakeside, Mich., is still the talk of the town after officers from 14 police departments swarmed the art gallery to quell a melee. The groom’s father, uncle, aunt and cousin — several of whom hail from Villa Park and La Grange Park — also got arrested.
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Obama vs. Chandler, Arizona
I noticed a striking similarity between Obama’s campaign logo and the official seal of the city of Chandler Arizona. I have lived in Chandler for all of my 24 years and I can attest to the fact that the city’s logo has been exactly the same for as long as I can remember.
I’m not suggesting that the Obama camp stole the design idea (though I’m not ruling it out), but I wonder how and why the logos both ended up looking almost completely similar. Notice the color placement. Red & White stripes at the bottom (Obama logo: Stripes of the flag. Chandler logo: Irrigation in farming fields). A circular blue band creating the letters ‘O’ or ‘C’ at the top.
City of Chandler website: www.chandleraz.gov/
1 comment August 19th, 2008
Beijing Olympics opening ceremony: Soldiers ‘wore nappies’
The 900 soldiers who operated the huge scroll forming the centrepiece of the ceremony were unable to leave their posts beneath the machinery for up to seven hours.
A German newspaper has said the soldiers of the People’s Army were given nappies to cope with the conditions.
Han Lixun, a choreographer, said: “The underground area was so hot, there were 897 people there, and they had to wait until they finished their performance before they could use a proper lavatory.
“So altogether they had to stay there for six to seven hours so they all wore nappies.”
1 comment August 19th, 2008
Chronological Bible sparks debate
Bob Sanford wanted to create a Bible that would bring order and clarity to the text. Instead, he’s waded right into one of the great debates of biblical scholarship.
The Chronological Study Bible will be released this fall in the midst of a Bible-publishing boom in the United States. In an industry that now as much to do with profits as with prophets, Sanford expects his new edition to have wide appeal.
“(Our challenge) is to take the scholarship and make it enjoyable to a readership that enjoys history,” said Sanford, who oversees the Bible division for the giant Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson.
The company has carved out its share of the industry’s estimated $500 million annual haul by cornering the market on niche markets, such as families and teenagers.
The latest edition rejiggers the order of books, psalms, and Gospels in an effort to provide a historical framework for a text most scholars consider chronologically challenged.
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Bag of Randomness
- I no longer have a mustache.
- It makes me sad when I get a haircut or shave off my go-tee an no one at work notices.
- WifeGeeding just discovered that the trapoline is an Olympic sport. Look for her in London in 2012.
- I’m seeing the USA Basketball mens team attending more and more Olympic events and I think that’s pretty darn cool.
- I just heard that Tim Russert’s son will cover youth issues at the conventions.
- While watching Rocky IV back in 1986 I never thought this would happen.
- I guess what I’m trying to say is, if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change.
- I guess only a handful of folks understood those last two bullet points.
- The more that I listened to Rick Warren speak over the past couple of days, the more grateful I am he is not my pastor.
- Usain Bolt sure is an arrogant sprinter.
- My planter fasciitis pain has gotten much better ever since I started exercising on the elliptical trainer. I think it helps me stretch in some sort of way.
- That elliptical trainer is wearing me out so much that I feel too tired to blog. I think today’s posts are pretty lackluster.
- Over the past four years a lot of businesses in my area have gone out of business. That’s not a political stab, just an observation that makes my concerned about property values.
- A friend just called and told me his manager was let go and he now has his job.
- I bought Madden for the Wii and I feel a bit stupid playing it.
- I wonder if there was ever really a Big Foot.
- I finally found that annoying rattle in my car.
- My favorite gravy is white country gravy.
- I miss watching Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings.
- Laurence Fishburne seems to be a good fit for CSI.
- I love watching Mythbusters and Modern Marvels.
- We have a new garage door opener that oddly enough won’t light an energy efficient bulb but will light a regular bulb. I know the energy efficient bulb isn’t defective as it works on a lamp inside. Weird.
- I just saw a tie in the uneven bar competition. That is extremely weird.
- Those Chinese gymnasts sure do look young, but I wonder why nothing more was made of up at the pre-Olympics competition.
- I’m not sure how being 13 years of age as opposed to 16 is an advantage. Off hand, I think being that young is a disadvantage.  But I’m ignorant when it comes to this sport.
- The U.S. pole vaulting coach didn’t really sound all that positive towards his silver medalist.
- I sure hope I’m wrong, but I think I see the U.S. losing it’s foothold as the economic leader of the world. Recently the Chrysler Building was sold as well as Anheuser-Busch sold to foreign buyers, and I hear China owns a lot our debt, not to mention, their economy is about to go bonkers. As low as the dollar is right now, foreign investors are snatching things up as a bargain. And I believe GM has or is about to lose it’s reign as top car producer to Toyota.
- Grace
6 comments August 19th, 2008