Clarity
The Beijing Olympics may be over, but we’re not prepared to let them go just yet.
I think we owe a debt of gratitude to the astute photographer – Eileen Bass – from the USA Today who captured what apparently NOBODY else saw in the Olympics. In the USA Today on Monday, 25 August, I found the following:
Pictured below is Michael Phelps clearly crossing lanes while swimming the mens 200 butterfly.
Danny the ‘at risk’ Champion of the World
Posted 4 Sep 2008
As a boy, I loved reading Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. The love that Danny’s father had for him, the gentle way in which Danny’s dad cared for him, and that they lived in an old gypsy caravan all seemed wonderfully comforting to me.
Looking back, I suppose that I dreamt myself as Danny and wished that I might have helped my dad fix cars in the shop. (Anyone who knows how clueless I am with anything even remotely mechanical will appreciate the irony of this memory.)
Recently, I was lucky enough to re-read this beloved story by one of the greatest story-tellers of the 20th century. And whilst I still was amazed by the craftsmanship of the writing style and by the wonderfully gentle way in which Roald Dahl weaves a tale, I have to say that I was a bit more concerned about the parenting skills of Danny’s father than I was after my first read.
What kind of father teaches his son that it’s okay to steal?
What kind of father leaves his nine year-old-son alone for the night to go on a crime spree?
What kind of father co-conspires with his nine-year-old son to commit what must surely be felony grand theft?
Surely, DCFS would have something to say about Danny’s dad and his parenting techniques.
Psychic perhaps, but not a statistician
Posted 3 Sep 2008
This advert was sent to us by a sharp-witted and quick-eyed reader who was perusing his morning paper in the comfort of his home, only to be shocked by what he read. Seeking clarification, our reader emailed a scan of the advert to us, for discussion by all chickenmonkeydoggers.
Although this powerful psychic is only 99% accurate, there is no need for concern. This amazing astrologer never fails.
The full advert is well worth a read as well.
Thank you to a Chicago reader who contributed the picture for this post! As always, we welcome contributions via email at chickenmonkeydog at gmail dot com. Happy Wednesday!
One of the unexpected joys of running a daily blog is reviewing the searches that bring visitors to chickenmonkeydog. With now more than 8 months of blogging behind us, we thought we would share some of the more entertaining and interesting searches that have swept visitors to our site:
Filed under ‘No surprises here’:
chicken monkey shoes
Filed under ‘A bit of a stretch’:
indian pointy slippers
“barefoot” “acceptable”
Filed under ‘No idea how they got here’:
buster martin marathon
cauthery
glass building
be my friend spell
Filed under ‘Searched by weirdos’:
how to measure women feet
weird monkey on dog’s back
bikes slippers crotch
Filed under ‘Frightening’:
abuse a dog.com
Pittsburgh Pirates scam their fans!
Posted 1 Sep 2008
The Pittsburgh Pirates (American baseball team) don’t win much and I can’t even count the number of Pittsburghers who have told me that “the Pirates have a great stadium, but the team is no good.” Apathy about a sports team is odd in this city of sports fans; Pittsburgh’s support for the Steelers (American football) and Penguins (ice hockey) is evidence of the typical sports fervor.
Earlier this summer, I went to PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, to investigate why this might be. It was my second game at the stadium and once again, despite perfect weather, moderately priced tickets and a fantastic ballpark, the fans were nearly outnumbered by employees of the various food vendors. What was causing such low attendance?
It turns out that the Pirates scam their fans out of cash every time they buy beer at the stadium! The “small” cup above sells for $4.75 whereas you pay $7.50 for the “large” cup. If you couldn’t tell from the above picture, the cup on the right is the “larger” one. Now, before you watch this video below, recall that the “large” cup sells for a full $2.75 more than the “small”.
http://www.vimeo.com/1631620One of the more scrupulous beer vendors at the park was kind enough to point this deception out to us and save us some cash, but it disgusts me to think about how much pure profit the Pirates are fleecing from the few people who still attend the games! I guess they are the Pirates, so maybe this is just their way of making their namesake more tangible to the average fan.
