The joys of English are many ...

George Mathews, governor of Georgia in the late eighteenth century, once famously spelled coffee kaughphy.

The picky among my readers will note that he used eight letters to spell a six-letter word -- and he managed not to use a single letter actually found in the correct version.

For more on Governor Mathews, visit this site.

Spuds Terkel?

The Great Potato Play, 1987

 

On August 31, 1987, the double-A Williamsport Bills were playing the Reading Phillies. Rick Lundblade of the Phillies was on third base, waiting to run for home. The pitcher threw the ball low, into the glove of the catcher, Dave Bresnahan, who immediately threw it towards third hoping to pick off Lundblade. But the throw went wild, over the head of the third baseman, and Lundblade triumphantly sprinted towards home. But when he reached home he found Bresnahan waiting for him with a grin on his face and the ball in his hand.

The entire stadium erupted in confusion. If Bresnahan had thrown the ball out into left field, how was it possible that he now had it in his hand, waiting to tag Lundblade out? The answer was that he had not thrown a ball into left field. What he had thrown was actually a peeled potato.

Bresnahan holding the potato

The stunt immediately became known as the Great Potato Play. It cost Bresnahan his job with the Bills, but on the other hand, it also earned him an immortal place in baseball history. 

Source: Museum of Hoaxes

Happy Bacon!

International Bacon Day or Bacon Day is an unofficial observance held on the Saturday before Labor Day in the United States. (Labor Day is traditionally the first Monday of September). Bacon day celebrations typically include social gatherings during which participants create and consume dishes containing bacon, including bacon-themed breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, and drinks.

Bacon Day was conceived in Bedford, Massachusetts in 2000 by the residents of the Crag.

Damien's note: RE: the photo -- One can ask which is a greater danger to American health -- the gun or the bacon.

Horton enrollment declining

This year's incoming freshman class at Philip Peabody Horton University is the smallest in a decade, and numbers have been declining for the past several years. Since tuition is free, we do not attribute the decline to the economy. In fact, one might expect more students to apply. We do, however, have stringent entrance requirements -- in particular, that one must have applied and been rejected everywhere else and that one must establish one's quirkiness through letters of reluctant recommendation. (Technically, we are interested in one's antisociability, but that sounds harsh.)

Portrait of Philip Peabody Horton as a young cemetery plot salesman

Date unknown

So the university board has agreed for the first time to start advertising PPHU more broadly. You may see ads showing up on your local television, alongside those for Regent University, ITT Tech and other alternate-reality-based centers of learning.

Here is a link to a short press release: Philip Peabody Horton University seeks students 

For more about PPHU, you can read this post.

John the Baptist in Kansas

Today Catholics and some other Christians keep the memory of the beheading of John the Baptist. There are lots of stories about how many heads of John the Baptist exist among the relics in churches across Europe.

More intriguing perhaps is this reliquary that claims to hold a finger from the saint.

It is located in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. This placard is placed nearby.

Click on image to enlarge.

Speaking of mountains of meat ...

Bruce Jenner in his mighty-fine manly days

It started as a baseless rumor, but over time (and surgeries), it is becoming increasingly clear that Bruce Jenner, the Kardashian family patriarch, has transformed into "something" and several media outlets say that his goal is to be a woman. Bruce Jenner sex change rumors have been heating up lately after it was revealed that he had decided to reduce his Adam's apple. Now it seems that Bruce has started wearing Spanx underneath his suit on his red carpet arrivals, according to an August 26 Latino Post report. 

Apparently, the situation became even more unbearable for the family when the ex-athlete appeared with a manicure that any woman would envy. The Inquisitr reported that Bruce Jenner is somewhat embarrassed by his new love for Spanx, and reportedly got really angry when his wife, Kris Jenner, told their daughters, Kendall and Kylie, about his little secret.

In the past, reality star and Kardashian family matriarch, Kris, has denied the Bruce Jenner sex change rumors and she said that everything was a vile story created by the tabloids.

"Ninety-nine percent of the stuff in the tabloids is made up,” Kris told ET special correspondent Cheryl Woodcock. “I think when he gets his nails buffed they put clear [nail polish on him]. The bottom line is, we sell magazines.”

According to the Daily Mail, the alleged sex change would be the tip of the iceberg, as people close to Bruce claim he was thinking of changing his name to Brigitte, in honor of Brigitte Bardot, a former actress, singer, fashion model and one of the best known sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s.

 
Kris is not the only one that has come out in defense of the former athlete as his older sons, Brody and Brandon, said that his father has only been dedicated to following the advice of his former partner. 

Damien's note: I have been suspicious ever since learning that he co-starred with the Village People in Can't Stop the Music in 1980.

Ten bucks for the sandwich, twenty for the antacids!

Is Arby's Meat Mountain worth the $10 price tag?

The 'secret' sandwich is stacked with every cold cut in the chain's arsenal. Is it a good deal?

Arby's is now offering a $10 "Meat Mountain" sandwich (pictured) that includes every cold cut the fast food joint has to offer. 

 Yes, it's gross, but here's what we want to know: Is the Meat Mountain worth its mountainous price? 

Probably. A price comparison shows that purchasing all of the sandwich ingredients at a grocery store (we used Peapod by Giant to compare) would cost about $9.13 -- a small savings of 87 cents. Factor in labor and convenience, and it's hard to argue that Arby's is giving customers a decent deal. 

Here's the breakdown: 

• 2 chicken tenders ($1.00) 
• 1.5 oz. of roast turkey (75 cents) 
• 1.5 oz. of ham (75 cents) 
• 1 slice of Swiss cheese (34 cents) 
• 1.5 oz. of corned beef (74 cents) 
• 1.5 oz. brisket ($1.31) 
• 1.5 oz. of Angus steak ($1.41) 
• 1 slice of cheddar cheese (34 cents) 
• 1.5 oz. roast beef (96 cents) 
• 3 half-strips of bacon ($1.07) 
• 1 bun (46 cents) 

       Grand total: $9.13. 

The idea to offer this new item stemmed from a marketing campaign to dispel the myth that Arby's sells only roast beef sandwiches. When customers saw new marketing posters in the restaurants showing slices of ham, bacon, chicken tenders, brisket, and more stacked on top of each other, mouths began to water. 

"People started coming in and asking, 'Can I have that?'" Christopher Fuller, vice president of brand and corporate communications, told The Washington Post. 

However, this dish is only for the daring, so it won't be featured on the Arby’s menu. Instead, it will be part of the "secret menu" -- a list of unadvertised items a restaurant will make only if customers ask for them by name. 

For the sake of all Americans' cholesterol levels, it's probably safest that way.

Up in the sky -- It's the price!

Superman debuts in Action Comics No. 1 in June 1938.AP

NEW YORK –  A rare, nearly flawless copy of Superman's comic-book debut has sold for a super-powered price: $3.2 million.

New York comics dealers Stephen Fishler and Vincent Zurzolo said Monday they submitted Sunday's record-setting bid in the eBay auction for Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 book in which the superhero first appeared. It's believed to be the highest price ever paid for a comic book, surpassing $2.1 million for a similarly high-quality copy of the same book in 2011.

"It's hard to believe that a kid's 10-cent comic could be worth that much money, but it is Superman. That's an iconic thing," Fishler said. "It's the first time anybody saw what a superhero was like."

Damien's note: The comic cost ten cents in 1938. When you factor in inflation, that amounts to four million dollars in 2014 money. ;-) 

Actually it would be $1.69 according to this inflation calculator.

Today's comic books run about four dollars.

Because that old-timey sugar was so good for us!

Pepsi plans to put the real thing into some colas this summer: sugar.

The soda giant -- whose colas, like much of the industry, have been hit by a continuing sales decline -- plans to roll out three types of Pepsi-Cola sweetened with real sugar and not with high fructose corn syrup, reports Beverage Digest, the industry trade publication.

Pepsi confirmed the planned roll-out to USA TODAY, but did not comment further.

The three offerings: "Pepsi Made With Real Sugar," "Pepsi Vanilla Made With Real Sugar," and "Pepsi Wild Cherry Made With Real Sugar," says Sicher.

The strategic move by Pepsi comes at a time the $76 billion carbonated soft drink industry is on the decline. The big soft drink makers are eager to devise new products and marketing moves that spark consumer interest. At the same time, some consumers are increasingly showing concern over the use of high fructose corn syrup as well as artificial sweeteners in soft drinks.

Damien's note: I don't know, here's a crazy idea: Why not spend all that research money that went into devising this campaign on something outside the box -- like coming up with a good-tasting and healthy beverage to offer the public?

All we are saying, is give breasts a chance!

 
According to their website:

What is GoTopless.org?

We are a U.S.-based organization founded in 2007 by spiritual leader Rael and we claim that women have the same constitutional right that men have to go bare-chested in public.

"As long as men are allowed to be topless in public, women should have the same constitutional right. Or else, men should have to wear something to hide their chests" Rael, founder of GoTopless.org and spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement (rael.org)

 The Raelians, as you may recall, are a UFO cult who say that life on earth is the result of intelligent design. No not that Intelligent Design, but aliens. They hit the news in 2002 when they claimed to have cloned a human being, a baby girl that they called Eve. They also support genetically modified food and nanotechnology.

That image, BTW, is not of Raelians but of a group of Ukrainian feminists in 2011. I don't know if they are involved in the current troubles or not.

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- "Our God is woman, our mission is protest, our weapons are bare breasts." It's the kind of political slogan that's bound to catch attention, particularly when it's dozens of topless women clutching campaign posters who are chanting it.

These are the women of Femen, Ukraine's topless female protest movement. Young women who believe that the best way to make their voice heard is through sheer bare-chested brazenness.

Femen's leader, 26-year-old Anna Gutsol, explains: "Our goal is active Ukrainian women who want to be involved in society and politics.

"We thought we'd create an organization where young girls could come and help others like them and help society. And the format we picked was this extremely sexy, bright way of presenting ourselves." Source:Jamiiforums

Damien's notes:

1. I know you gay guys are disappointed that Go Topless Day does not encourage guys to go shirtless, but then guys don't need encouragement or a special day, right? That's the whole point.
2. I am not sure that the Raelians really should be talking about intelligent design. Perhaps next time some reactionary school board in the States tries to shoehorn "Intelligent Design" into the science curriculum, opponents should invite crowds of Raelians to testify for the proposal. It is hard to see how even Fox News could make them look reasonable.
3. And I guess with the Raelians and the Femen, this is a sort of two-for--the-price-of-one post. You're welcome.

Westboro Baptists to protest in Iraq?

Westboro Baptist vs ISIS

"Adam Hills, the above TV host, offered Westboro Baptist members a free trip to Iraq to protest real Christian persecution. They accepted! I really hope this guy provides the air fare for those screwballs to actually go to Iraq. In fact I bet if Mr. Hills sets up a fund to send them that the donations would roll in nonstop. What a great idea, kudos sir!"

Source: Weird Universe: August 22, 2014 

Damien's note: The above quote is from the website noted,  not from me. And I have no idea if it is true that the Westboro Baptists have agreed to go. I'll let you search that tidbit on your own.

There's no more room for Jell-O?

NEW YORK (AP) - Jell-O has lost its jiggle and nobody knows how to fix it.

The dessert was invented more than a century ago and helped popularize a delicacy reserved for the rich into a quick, affordable treat. Americans of all ages are familiar with the famous "J-E-L-L-O" jingle and TV ads featuring comedian Bill Cosby. Knocking back Jell-O shots made with alcohol is a college memory for many.

Yet despite its enduring place in pop culture, sales have tumbled 19 percent in the past four years, with alternatives such as Greek yogurt surging in popularity. Executives at Kraft Foods, which owns Jell-O, say they're confident they can revitalize the brand. But their efforts so far have been a disappointment.

After years of marketing sugar-free Jell-O to dieters, for instance, Kraft last year launched an ad campaign that switched back to playing up the family angle. In one TV spot called "Comb Over," a man with the title hairdo tells his son how Jell-O makes up for life's troubles, like being stuck in traffic. The visual gag is when the child imagines himself going through life with a comb over.

"Kids thought it was hilarious," said Dan O'Leary, senior director of marketing for Kraft desserts.

Unfortunately, it didn't get people in the mood to eat Jell-O. 

Damien's note: Okay, I'm no ad exec. But here is a photo from the comb over ad:

And here is John Stamos pushing Greek yogurt:

Need I say more?

I am afraid to ask ...

The compound built for but never occupied by Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous sect who is in jail for sexually assaulting girls he claimed were his wives, is now a bed-and-breakfast.

The Utah property is called America’s Most Wanted Suites and Bed and Breakfast. Rooms cost $85-$200 a night. The lodging is owned by a former bodyguard of Jeffs, who said it doesn’t “have any spooky history.”

Affluenza? Sinfluenza? Assfluenza?

Father of 'affluenza' teen arrested for allegedly pretending to be a Texas policeman

Frederick Couch responded to a disturbance call in Lakeside, Tex., and told the real cops on the scene that he, too, was an officer. His teen son dodged jail time for a fatal June 2013 car wreck after his family claimed his wealth made it impossible for him to tell right from wrong.

BY Meg Wagner

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 1:08 PM

 

 North Richland Hills Police Frederick Couch, dad of the teen boy who infamously dodged jail time for a drunken driving accident that killed four, was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly pretended to be a cop.

Will this Texas family pull the "affluenza" defense again?

The father of the infamous affluenza-afflicted teen, who ducked jail time for a deadly drunken driving accident because his family said he was too rich to tell right from wrong, was busted Tuesday for pretending to be a cop.

Frederick Couch allegedly posed as a Lakeside, Texas, officer during a disturbance call in July, Dallas News reported.

Couch was already on the scene when officers responded to the July 28 call.

Couch's son dodged jail time for a fatal car wreck in June 2013 after the Couch family claimed the teen's wealth made it impossible for him to tell right from wrong.

As the legitimate cops were wrapping up the investigation, Couch apparently pulled them over to his car and told them he had his "police stuff" inside. He pulled out his wallet and a phony police badge as proof, and claimed to be a reserve officer with the Lakeside force, police say.

Police let Couch go at the scene, but a further investigation proved the Texas man had never been a licensed Texas officer. They finally arrested him Tuesday on a warrant.

Ethan Couch, center, is on probation for a drunken June 2013 crash that killed four people.

Couch was released on $2,500 bond shortly after his release.

Couch's 16-year-old son, Ethan, made headlines last year when he dodged prison time for a deadly drunken driving crash because his lawyers claimed he suffered from "affluenza," a rich-kid syndrome that made him believe his wealth exempted him from the consequences of risky behavior.

Ethan is currently serving 10 years of probation for a June 2013 crash that killed four people.
------------------
Damien's note: It becomes increasingly plausible that the poor kid doesn't know right from wrong. But I don't see how you can blame money for the problem.

Walking meditation

The Bridge is a series of steps which rise up out of the water in front of you as you walk from one to the next, and then disappear back underneath behind you as you go, leaving you stranded with only one step visible in front of you, and one behind. The bridge ends in the middle of the water, where you find yourself totally isolated and cut off from the shore. You return the way you came. 

By Michael Cross

“Bridge is a spectacular new site-specific design commission for Dilston Grove, London (Cafe Gallery Projects) by Michael Cross. Housed in a former church, (one of the earliest examples of poured concrete construction and a Grade II listed building), the piece comprises submerging two thirds of the inside of the church in water, and producing a series of steps which rise out of the apparently empty man-made ‘lake’ as you walk across them. Each step emerges one step in front of you and disappears back underneath behind you as you go. This ‘bridge’ is purely mechanical, the weight of the person on it depresses each step a little, this force activates a submerged mechanism which raises the next step. The public are invited to walk out on it as if walking on water, eventually reaching the middle of the lake, thirty steps and twelve meters from the shore. There they will stand alone and detached, stranded in the middle of a plane of water until they choose to return the way they came. For some people this experience of being cut off and surrounded by water will be peaceful, for others terrifying. For some walking across the water will be pure childish joy, whilst others will be too scared to try”. 

Source: Interactive Architecture 2006

I bet he thought he had made a clean getaway

In an odd home invasion that sounds almost too bizarre to believe, an Albuquerque robber was arrested after he took off all his clothes then proceeded to shave and shower while forcing the 94-year-old victim to watch. The Albuquerque Journal reported on August 18 that 43-year-old Rudy Chavez was taken into custody on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery.

According to the police report, the incident occurred on August 13 when Chavez allegedly entered the home of the elderly victim and threatened him with a handgun. Based on information from the criminal complaint, Chavez held the victim, Glen Miller, at gunpoint while he showered, shaved and dressed in Miller’s clothes.

The Inquisitr explained that at some point, Miller reportedly attempted to contact authorities. The suspect then “grabbed him by the arm” and proceeded to drag him throughout the house.

After admitting to the frightened nonagenarian that he was committing the robbery because he had just been released from prison and was unable to find a job, he left with Miller's car, television and cash.

Miller was not seriously injured in the crime although he suffered minor bruises from the robber grabbing him by the arm. Due to violent and brazen nature of the crime, police worked tirelessly to catch the robber. Police say the Albuquerque robber left plenty of evidence for crime scene analysts who later identified him through fingerprints he left on the shaver and a bottle of mouthwash.

“It certainly benefited us in this case. It gave us an enhanced opportunity to identify him and subsequently arrest him,” Albuquerque police Lt. Paul Szych said of Chavez’s strange grooming ritual. “That was a key component to the case.”

Police said Chavez is also a suspect in a shooting that took place earlier the same evening, although they didn't release any further details about that particular crime. He is currently being held on a $100,000 cash only bond.

And now a word from SomeOne Who Cares

The world ended today in 1999. That explains so much!

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: August 18

Posted by The Curator on Mon Aug 18, 2014

August 18, 1999: Criswell Predicts the End of the World
 

In his book Criswell Predicts From Now to the Year 2000 (published 1968), the American psychic Criswell predicted that the end of the world would occur on August 18, 1999. The end would come by means of a "black rainbow" that would remove the oxygen from the earth's atmosphere "through some mysterious force beyond our comprehension." The only survivors would be the handful of colonists living in space stations. Criswell was known for his "wildly inaccurate predictions" (as wikipedia puts it).

Criswell himself did not make it to 1999. He died in 1982.

Damien's note: My favorite Criswell facts are that he was Mae West's personal psychic and that he played himself in the Ed Wood classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space. It was, I fear, the role he was born to play, serving as a sort of opening and closing Greek chorus to what is generally considered the worst motion picture ever made. And if you have seen other Ed Wood productions, you know that saying this is the worst is saying something.

Just because: Russian dancer at home

Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980)

... was an American actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades. Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named West 15th among the greatest female stars of all time. One of the more controversial movie stars of her day, West encountered many problems, including censorship. When her cinematic career ended, she continued to perform on stage, in Las Vegas, in the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and recorded rock and roll albums. Asked about the various efforts to impede her career, West said, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it."

Damien's note: When I was in seminary and we had to practice giving brief homilies at daily Mass, I once began by quoting Mae West: "When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before." [It did have an application to the readings of the day, but I won't bore you with that.]

The seminary treasurer -- who was a Navy veteran and quite a hottie -- never looked up during these early morning sermonets. We assumed he slept through them, because he was not much for anything until he had finished his morning coffee and that came after Mass. He would actually growl at you if you tried to engage in conversation.

That morning, when I said "Mae West", he looked up, smiled and paid attention to the whole homily. That fact was mentioned in my favor in the weekly evaluations.

Sinister buttocks

I love queer things and I love words. A friend who is publications director for a small firm put me onto Michael Quinion's World Wide Words, and I look forward to the regular newsletters. There is a link over on the sidebar.

The most recent newsletter contained this delightful bit:

Synonymising fallacy. An article dated 7 August in the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) introduced me to the new word Rogetism. Its creator is Chris Sadler, a lecturer at Middlesex University.

He had wondered about mysterious out-of-context phrases such as tarry forth of the conquest, modern store guides, bequest mazes and Herculean personalised liturgies, which kept appearing in student essays. Eventually he twigged that they were plagiarising online material but trying to hide it by changing some of the words using a thesaurus. Unfortunately, they were using what they’d looked up without caring about its meaning.

The phrases above resulted from applying this process to, respectively, stay ahead of the competition, new market leaders, legacy networks and powerful personalised services.

Sadler’s favourite Rogetism (coined, of course, from the most famous of all thesauruses, that created by Peter Mark Roget) is sinister buttocks, which he has entered for this year’s THES exam howlers competition. The original was left behind.

On a side note, I consider the depressingly popular evangelical apocalyptic Left Behind series to be a perfect example of sinister buttocks.

Drop by drop

Damien's note: Several years ago I was visiting my mother. The small town where she lives gets its water from the reservoir of a nearby city and she doesn't trust it. So she buys bottled water. When I read the label, I discovered that the bottled water she was drinking came directly from that mistrusted city's reservoir. 
--------------------------------

Bottled-water drinkers, we have a problem: There's a good chance that your water comes from California, a state experiencing the third-driest year on record.

The details of where and how bottling companies get their water are often quite murky, but generally speaking, bottled water falls into two categories. The first is "spring water," or groundwater that's collected, according to the EPA, "at the point where water flows naturally to the earth's surface or from a borehole that taps into the underground source." About 55 percent of bottled water in the United States is spring water, including Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead.

The other 45 percent comes from the municipal water supply, meaning that companies, including Aquafina and Dasani, simply treat tap water—the same stuff that comes out of your faucet at home—and bottle it up. (Weird, right?)

But regardless of whether companies bottle from springs or the tap, lots of them are using water in exactly the areas that need it most right now.

The map above shows the sources of water for four big-name companies that bottle in California. Aquafina and Dasani "sources" are the facilities where tap water is treated and bottled, whereas Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead "sources" refer to the springs themselves.

In the grand scheme of things, the amount of water used for bottling in California is only a tiny fraction of the amount of water used for food and beverage production—plenty of other bottled drinks use California's water, and a whopping 80 percent of the state's water supply goes toward agriculture. But still, the question remains: Why are Americans across the country drinking bottled water from drought-ridden California?

One reason is simply that California happens to be where some bottled water brands have set up shop. "You have to remember this is a 120-year-old brand," said Jane Lazgin, a representative for Arrowhead. "Some of these sources have long, long been associated with the brand." Lazgin acknowledges that, from an environmental perspective, "tap water is always the winner," but says that the company tries to manage its springs sustainably. The water inside the bottle isn't the only water that bottling companies require: Coca-Cola bottling plants, which produce Dasani, use 1.63 liters of water for every liter of beverage produced in California, according to Coca-Cola representative Dora Wong. "Our California facilities continue to seek ways to reduce overall water use," she wrote in an email.

Another reason we're drinking California's water: California happens to be the only Western state without groundwater regulation or management of major groundwater use. In other words, if you're a water company and you drill down and find water in California, it's all yours.

Then there's the aforementioned murkiness of the industry: Companies aren't required to publicly disclose exactly where their sources are or how much water each facility bottles. Peter Gleick, author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession With Bottled Water, says, "I don't think people have a clue—no one knows" where their bottled water comes from. (Fun facts he's discovered in his research: Everest water comes from Texas, Glacier Mountain comes from Ohio, and only about a third of Poland Springs water comes from the actual Poland Spring, in Maine.)

Despite the fact that almost all US tap water is better regulated and monitored than bottled, and despite the hefty environmental footprint of the bottled water industry, perhaps the biggest reason that bottling companies are using water in drought zones is simply because we're still providing a demand for it: In 2012 in the United States alone, the industry produced about 10 billion gallons of bottled water, with sales revenues at $12 billion.

As Gleick wrote, "This industry has very successfully turned a public resource into a private commodity." And consumers—well, we're drinking it up.

Oh, Canada!

Scooby-Doo and the Case[y] of the Subtle References

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A publicist for Casey Kasem's daughter says the late radio personality's children are working with law enforcement following a report that Kasem's wife is making arrangements to have Kasem's body flown to Europe
.
Danny Deraney, a publicist for Kasem's daughter Kerri, told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that Kasem's children are discussing their next steps with authorities.

Kasem, the radio host of "American Top 40," died June 15 at a hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington. He was 82 and suffering from dementia. His death followed a lengthy battle over his care between his wife Jean Kasem and his three adult children from his first marriage.

TMZ reports that Jean Kasem is trying to have Kasem's body flown to Europe, perhaps Oslo, Norway, from Montreal. Teruyuki Olsen, a lawyer for Kasem's wife, said he had no comment.

Damien's note: It always raises questions in my mind when this sort of thing is handled by a publicist. A publicist is a person whose job it is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album. So this news comes from someone whose job is to create publicity.

The late Mr. Kasem, besides his iconic stature on Top 40,  according to Scoobypedia, provided the voice of Shaggy Rogers from 1969–1997 and then again from 2002-2009 for the Scooby-Doo franchise. In 1995, being a devout vegan, Kasem detested reprising his role of Shaggy in a Burger King commercial, not only turning down the offer, but leaving the role entirely when the producers wouldn't make the character into a vegan. In the interim of his time away he was replaced by Billy West and Scott Innes. In 2002, he returned when it was decided that Shaggy would be a vegetarian; subtle references can be found in What's New, Scooby-Doo?. He continued until his retirement in 2009. 

I'm sorry. There are subtle references so something in Scooby-Doo?

And I bet you didn't even know there was a Scoobypedia! That's why I'm here, to make sure you become aware of these things.

French Lick

Somehow or other I wound up on an emailing list for French Lick Resort in Indiana.

Either someone did this as a joke or else I signed up for it ... thinking it was something quite different!

Strip

Jack Eyers, a personal trainer and fitness model, has thrown his muscle weight behind #StripForScope, a summer campaign that raises money for a U.K. organization helping people with disabilities.

And a tip of the hat to Wicked Gay Blog on this one.

Length matters?

According to Answers.com website ("Ask us anything'), the longest names are:

Person's Name
The longest name to date is Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Jack Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorft Senior [746 letters]

The longest one-word name is of a young Hawaiian boy named Kananinoheaokuuhomeopuukaimanaalohilo [35 letters]. The name means "The Beautiful Aroma of My Home at Sparkling Diamond Hill is Carried to the Eyes of Heaven". In Hawaii, it is the custom to give children long, descriptive names. Dont worry though, they call him Joe, of all things, for short.

Place Name
The longest place name is the actual name of the city Bangkok, in Thailand :

Krungthepmahanakonbowornratanako-
sinmahintarayudyayamahadilopono-
paratanarajthaniburiromudomrajni-
wesmahasatarnamornpimarnavatarsa-
titsakattiyavisanukamphrasit (155 letters)

This translates to "The land of angels, the great city of immortality, of divine gems, the great angelic land unconquerable land of nine noble gems, the royal city, a pleasant capital place of the Royal Palace, eternal land of angels and reincarnated spirits predestined and created by the highest Devas."

The longest place name in an English-speaking country, though not an English word, is Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu [85 letters], the Māori name for a hill close to Porangahau, south of Waipukurau in southern Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. 

The 58-letter name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town on Anglesey, an island of Wales. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in Welsh are considered as single letters, for instance ll, ng and ch. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, commonly abbreviated to Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG. I had to toss this one in for my Welsh ancestors.

And the old joke: The longest word in English is smiles. Because there is a mile between the first and last letters.  Another version offers beleaguered, because there is a league between ... well, you get the idea. A league, for those unfamiliar with the term, is about three and a half miles.

As for Bart's word up there, Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis [45 letters] is an English word that refers to a lung disease that is otherwise known as silicosis. It is the longest word in the English language published in a dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word refers to "an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust."

The OED calls it an artificial word because it was created in 1935 for the sake of a puzzle. 

When I was a wee lad, we thought the longest word was antidisestablishmentarianism, which is certainly one of the longest real English words ever in use.

Antidisestablishmentarianism is a political philosophy that is opposed to the separation of church and state. The term originated in the context of the nineteenth century Church of England; antidisestablismentarians were opposed to proposals to remove its status as the state church of England. The term has largely fallen into disuse, although the issue itself is still current. 

Oddly, as children we were led to believe that the word applied to people who were against the church. I have a theory about how this misunderstanding arose, but this post has already gone on too long, don't you think?

What are you?

People still ask me, not so much am I Christian, but am I Catholic ["Roman" and capital C implied]. They assume that I am Christian for some reason. I was pondering that today.
What would I call myself? The problem is not calling myself something that identifies me as a follower of Jesus -- stumble though I do in that following. It is that the labels are not usually about a relationship with Jesus but about an implied relationship with a religious institution. I have no significant relationship with any religious institution, although I am still on the Catholic church's books somewhere.

 
So what am I?
Most anything I can come up with implies a connection to a church or ecclesial tradition -- disciple, for example, or friend or even plain old Christian.
So what am I?
Perhaps the secret is in the Name of the Unnamed One -- I AM. Period. Not in the way Ha Shem AM, of course. But maybe the sentence doesn't need a subject complement, "subject completer." It is enough in itself.
"What are you?"
I am.
"No, I mean what religion are you?"
I am not a religion.
"I mean, what church do you belong to?"
None.
"Well, what do you believe?"
I don't believe what. I believe SomeOne.
"What SomeOne do you believe in?
I don't believe in SomeOne. I believe SomeOne.
"What do you believe about that SomeOne?"
SomeOne AM.
"Huh?"
Yeah. That's what I think, too.
Oh, yeah. SomeOne AM. I am, but I am not SomeOne. Not that SomeOne, anyway.
Capiche?

Sad Sunday soundings

“The absurdity runs deep: America is using American military equipment to bomb other pieces of American military equipment halfway around the world. The reason the American military equipment got there in the first place was because, in 2003, the US had to use its military to rebuild the Iraqi army, which it just finished destroying with the American military. The American weapons the US gave the Iraqi army totally failed at making Iraq secure and have become tools of terror used by an offshoot of al-Qaeda to terrorize the Iraqis that the US supposedly liberated a decade ago. And so now the US has to use American weaponry to destroy the American weaponry it gave Iraqis to make Iraqis safer, in order to make Iraqis safer.

It’s not just ironic; it’s a symbol of how disastrous the last 15 years of US Iraq policy have been, how circuitous and self-perpetuating the violence, that we are now bombing our own guns. Welcome to American grand strategy in the Middle East.”

- Vox: The US bombing its own guns perfectly sums up America’s total failure in Iraq