Absurdities

Shel Silverstein’s 80th birthday was last Saturday, and since my admiration (okay, uh, general fannishness) is hardly a secret in these quarters, it seemed like as good a time as any to write …

Deadlines and other major events have pretty much reduced my brain to 140 characters or less and to watching YouTube clips off the WTF charts*. But then along comes a story too strange and too bizarre …

Okay, so a while back I wondered whether it was such a good idea to place James Wood on a pedestal, and that knowing what he thinks on or does with things that have nothing whatsoever to do with …

Because at this rate, it might be the only way to iron this mess out…

I can see how this would happen, but come on, this is funny:

Two notices were delivered by GEZ, a licence-collecting agency,

which threatened to mount legal action against the literary hero, who …

Well, not for the guy who tried to set his up, I suppose:

A man who chose "Lloyds is pants" as his telephone
banking password said he found it had been changed by a member of staff
to "no …

It even has third-act plot twists:

PORTLAND, Ore. – When Susan Kuhnhausen

returned home from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an

intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a …

In Act One of this story, a 57 year old woman has her dead pitbull, Booger, cloned in South Korea. Five times over.

In Act Two, the story is reported all over the world, and Bernann McKinney attracts …

Read on at Vulture to find out.

Why does this seem to me the perfect story right before a long weekend?

Police say an Appleton family is
still recovering from a scary incident early Wednesday morning when a
man covered with …

The town of Gerald, Missouri was one of many small towns struggling to overcome the scourge that is methamphetamine. So when a stranger with a Federal badge came to town, the higher-ups welcomed him …

Okay, so I am a negligent hockey fan who doesn’t even live in Canada anymore. But HOW HOW HOW can “Hockey Night in Canada” exist without its theme song? This is an outrage!

A …

But the story comes damn, damn close:

A JAPANESE man puzzled by food
mysteriously disappearing from his refrigerator got a shock when he
discovered a woman had been living in his home for …

The Joseph Fritzl case in Austria is a horrifying train wreck that I can’t stop reading about. But today’s story takes the cake, what with Fritzl complaining about poor media coverage from …

Or, to get all 1337-speak, my reaction upon reading this LA Times article by Scott Timberg was on par with OMGWTFBBQ!!!!111!!!:

With the explosion of computer viruses, identity theft and Nigerian …

Yes, I love these kinds of stories. And this one is both a doozy and heartwarming:

A baby with two faces was born in a northern Indian village, where

she is doing well and is being worshipped as …

Because if this was fiction it sure as hell would be:
 

Terry Cottle and Sonny Graham never met, but the two men shared two very important things — a heart and a wife.

They also died the …

I’ve been on a bit of an international pop star kick of late, and the recent death of Jules Dassin had me hunting around on YouTube for clips of his son Joe, a massive star in France in the …

Though the story’s headline is far, far funnier:

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) – Police in
Pennsylvania say they’ve arrested a naked man who ran amok on Friday,
attacking businesses …

Normally I don’t blog much about politics and current events, but I’m still picking up my jaw from the Spitzer scandal, like just about everybody else. For example, it was topic one among …

Forgive the cringe-worthy title, but this story, set off Gabriola Island in British Columbia, is rather indescribable in its potential for mystery:

Should a fourth human foot float ashore here in …

Because this is one of the greatest sentences I have ever read:

Two twin brothers, who are also black gay porn stars, were arrested for

allegedly pulling off a daring three-state crime spree that …

Granted, I’m deluged with work again, but still, this is genius. (via)

Jaime dishes on Donald Westlake’s greatest masterpiece ever. Or not.

(Also, as a result, this is in my head.)

First up is perhaps my very favorite prize, the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, has announced its shortlist:

I Was Tortured By the Pygmy Love Queen
How to Write a How to Write Book …

It’s certainly strange enough:

A four-ton iron bridge

on an old rail line between Cheb and Stary Hroznatov in west Bohemia,

has been reported missing, police revealed Tuesday.

Police …

Well, eventually, anyway:

Black is getting blacker.

Researchers in New York

reported this month that they have created a paper-thin material that

absorbs 99.955 percent of the light that hits it, …

You decide:

Criminal gangs are using dwarves in a ruse to steal

from the luggage holds of long-distance coaches, by hiding them inside

suitcases, according to police.

The bizarre

crime is on the …

Or, Jeff Pierce’s Rap Sheet headline on this story is pretty much dead-on.

Besides, want to know how celebrities become crime novelists? They hire ghostwriters.

Gothamist points to the story of a bank robber so compulsive he robbed the same banks over and over again:

A man held up two banks on a street near his

home four times in the last week, including …

Because, it’s priceless:

ROME (AP) — Your honor, I thought I saw a pussycat! Tweety may

finally air his signature complaint in front of a judge, after an

Italian court ordered the …

Where else do you find a reggae-flavored cover version of the Italian version of the MORK AND MINDY theme song? (thanks, Jaime!)

The saga of PFD has rightfully dominated UK publishing trade press, what with a new managing director, a failed buyout, mass agent exodus lamely disguised as firings, and a new agency, United Agents, …

Also, I’m on deadline (what else is new?) and I got pretty much nuthin’ until tomorrow…

First, go here. Watch both parts (or go here for the whole thing in one clip.)

Then come back and amuse me by answering, or at least attempting to answer, the following questions:

• Richard Price, …

Well perhaps not, but this is still pretty damn funny. (via)

Some writers get splashy book tours and accommodations at five-star hotels around the country. Still others conduct massive online marketing campaigns with every variety of Facebook, MySpace and blog …

First up is the one, the only Laura Lippman:

So, of all the strange e-mails I’ve ever gotten — I guess I should say, of

all the e-mails I’ve ever received from strangers — …

via

Jaime looks at how the “illustrious” team of Miller/Boyett (and sometimes Milkis) would retool shows so much that the theme songs had to be changed.

Of course, guess what is stuck in my …

Or the story, for that matter:

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin (AP) — It was embarrassing enough that

Mark Stahnke woke up in a neighbor’s yard without his pants. Then he

remembered they contained …

To wit:

LANSING — A state forensics scientist who said she tested her husband’s

underwear for DNA to determine if he was cheating on her has been fired.

Ann Chamberlain of Okemos testified in a …

i mean, what can you say to this?

ROCHELLE, Ga. — A woman was arrested after she

called local police to help “get her money back” after she was unhappy

with the crack cocaine she …

Talk about cultural convergence.

A staple of my childhood, a light of my life…is now gone.

Goodbye, Weekly World News. You will be missed very much.

Reading The Rap Sheet’s latest post doesn’t quite make me want to slit my wrists in protest, but you kind of have to wonder if just a leetle bit of due diligence on the production design …

Via the fertile creative mind of Tingle Alley:

I’m currently preoccupied with imagining a sit-com based around

Christopher Hitchens. Tentatively called “Everybody Pisses Off Hitch,”

it features a …

I think somebody in the Penguin art department is about to get spanked.

I bring you…well, let’s just say the headline NOT written is pretty damn obvious:

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Customs officers at Cairo’s airport have

detained a man bound for Saudi …

For so many, many, many reasons.

Because who else could possibly play him? Johnny Depp? I don’t think so. Cinematical feels differently, for what it’s worth.

Oddly enough this news comes in the midst of a semi-obsessive …

A Second Avenue Subway Line? Finally?! Are there pig droppings emanating from the sky?

So instead I implore you to read the Washington Post Magazine’s article on a very interesting experiment: can one of the world’s greatest musicians cut through the fog of a DC rush hour? …

And at the moment, it’s no fun living in Fago, Spain:

It is a whodunnit that could have

come straight from the pages of an Agatha Christie novel – the village

where every single …

At least, according to this brand-new study:

Scientists have discovered a novel way to live longer – to add two years to your life, just win a Nobel Prize.

Researchers found that the …

For those wondering, I didn’t smell the odor, but I also didn’t venture lower than 96th Street, so that might explain it. And now the culprit may be pinpointed:

NEW YORK (AP) — The …

I could say I have no words, but that’s not true.

As evident by the late date stamp on this post, I’m running way behind on stuff. And the ridiculous lack of publishing news isn’t helping.

Dems take House, possibly Senate.

Britney dumps …

Or maybe it’s the Department of Obvious:

Decaf coffee is often not totally caffeine-free, a new study shows.

In fact, while these beverages have far less caffeine than a cup of

regular …

Really, words fail me:

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — The two men accused of plotting with

a secretary at Coca-Cola Co. to steal trade secrets from the world’s

biggest soft drink maker and …

For some people, writing novels is a kind of wish fulfillment. They give their protagonists all the traits they wish they had, make them better looking, more intelligent, stronger, faster, what have …

Guess what I’m going to have in my head now. The disco version is particularly appalling.

John Rickards asks this: if you change one letter in a book title, what do you end up with?

Every Secret Thong

Who is the masked killer preying on Baltimore’s cross-dressing elite?

The Billing …

Too much of the whole “out and about” business today, so for the moment, let’s all reflect on the oh-so-sad reveal that Lonelygirl15 – YouTube’s first real breakout star …

I mean, the Teen Choice awards appearance was wretched enough, but now this?

Looks like the 28-year-old husband of singer

Britney Spears will be shuffling over to the small screen, where he

will …

Which is why I feel kinda sorry for ole Pluto here:

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) — Leading
astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under
historic new guidelines that …

Of all the dog days of August, I think this might be the alpha dog. Ay yi yi. Never mind that it’s (yet again) gorgeous, sunny and hot, which means brain cells are dying by the millisecond. And …

The theme song or Duane Swierczynski’s detailed analysis of said song.

So how many people are planning on seeing Snakes on a Plane? I sure as hell am.

So seriously…who thought this was the biggest non-news ever? Obviously, this chick did.

But it’s still funny. (link from Bookslut.)

OK, I have to admit, I thought this article in Seed Magazine was pretty freaking cool. Equating crime fiction and quantum physics? So there. More specifically, as Joshua Roebke puts it: …

There are some arguments that are simply too acrimonious to resolve. Ordinarily this would lead to some sort of trial and endless appeals, but one judge doesn’t want to do that. Instead, …

The headline pretty much says it all, as does the opening paragraph:

FORT LAUDERDALE – Truth proved to be stranger than fiction for a

high school criminology class investigating a fake crime …

Because they produce segments like this. (Via Maud Newton, but it’s been making the blog rounds.)

Too much out-and-abouting today, so I bring you a couple of lists:

From the NY Post, “25 Things a New Yorker should know.”

From Jason Pinter, 25 Horrifying Things that will Happen if you …

Yes folks, that age old question, “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” has been answered in a scientific and meticulous matter! And what is this answer?

LONDON, England — …

So Guy Kewney, one of the UK’s best-known computer journalists, was booked to go on the BBC on May 8 to discuss the lawsuit between Apple Music and Apple Corporation. And he’s waiting in …

But I agree with Jaime – Les Nessman ABSOLUTELY must have his own pundit show. Or as he puts, it, “is there a single news channel that Les couldn’t walk into today, no questions …

In another sign of why incessant Googling can get a girl into trouble, a quick check of my favorite true crime blog led me down some back waters to what might possibly be the greatest obituary ever …

“Nothing is more important to me than the integrity of the game of baseball.” — Bud Selig, talking about the upcoming probe into baseball players (like Barry Bonds) using steroids.

Charles Taylor of the Newark Star-Ledger has some fun with some of the things that a book lover is best advised to avoid when searching for a new book to read:

        …

So Trader Joe’s has finally taken Manhattan — specifically, near Union Square, where it’s but a hop, skip and a jump from Whole Foods. And well, this picture says it all:

Gawd, we …

But if you’re as clueless as I, let the Associated Press catch you up:

The premise of the movie is amusing enough: An evil crime lord

releases hundreds of deadly snakes on a commercial flight …

 Bookslut’s Michael Schaub says so and honestly, I am not about to argue. Cannot…stop…laughing….

An essay that’s making the rounds of various mystery folk, and justifiably provoking some ire, was penned by Karen L. Syed (who self-publishes her books at Echelon Press.) Why are people …

This book sounds too bizarre and strange not to note (especially as I can think of several people who might need such a copy) and so, here’s Daniel Wilson talking to the New York Times about …

Handwritten blogging! Especially with awesome prehistoric Internet references!

I’d do it except I’m lazy and technologically challenged, but surely others will step up to the plate… …

Or maybe I’m the only one who thinks this item is:

Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was being held

without bail after authorities said he was suspected of carrying

narcotics and not having a …

Skating with Celebrities. Tonight on Fox. Because lord knows watching C-listers partner up with the likes of Nancy Kerrigan makes for bizarre entertainment.

Like, you know, this:

In what’s surely the scariest development of the young new year, allhiphop.com reports that “Dirty Dancing” star Patrick Swayze
wants to release a rap single. …

Because a small town in Brazil will flout them anyway:

BIRITIBA MIRIM, Brazil — There’s no more room to bury the dead,

they can’t be cremated, and laws forbid a new cemetery. So …

I shouldn’t let my blood boil over this, but I really, really don’t get why the whole bar mitzvah culture has spun so wildly out of control:

A state-of-the-art New York bar mitzvah owes …

At least, I know I’d read this:

Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked, the story of Oz told from the

Wicked Witch’s perspective, has completed a novel told from the point

of view of the …

God, it’s been ages since I’ve written up a crime story on the blog, but it’s nice to get back to highlighting the weird, the bizarre and the frightening, at least on a limited …

Because a combination of extreme stress, brain death and potential sea changes are messing with my head of late (and thus killing the whole blog productivity in the process) I bring you the following …

It’s too bad this guy’s still in transit because lord knows he (along with this guy) will get a huge kick out of this news:

Hodder & Stoughton is delighted to announce the …

Why am I surprised about this? I don’t know, but I just am:

Oscar nominee Robert Forster is set to play a detective leading Wichita’s 31-year manhunt in a CBS movie tentatively …

Another one that’s making the litblog rounds, and for good reason: this advice column is utterly STOOPID. A woman writes in about her bad marriage and suddenly it’s a platform to rant …

It’s well over 90 degrees out and so my brain cells are dying right and left. No wonder I keep cackling at the continuing saga that is Jude Law cheating on his gorgeous fiancee, Sienna Miller, …

Others have weighed in more eloquently (and likely less eloquently as well) but for the 2 people who haven’t at least heard about it, I think the NYT’s “Modern Love” column has …

Or all I have to say is: thank GOD New York didn’t get it:

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – There were cheers in London’s Trafalgar Square when the city was named the site for the …

Because what other explanation can be given for Chrissie Hynde’s bizarro fangirl act?

Rock legend Chrissie Hynde is such a huge fan of British author Martin Amis, she got drunk and …

Based on this story, it ought to be something like LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE: THE AMAZING AND TRUE STORY OF DONNA GOEPPERT:

BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania (AP) — Some people seem to have all the …

Either this piece is ridiculously breathless, or I’m just adding my own interpretation to the mix:

"Boy Vey! The Shiksa’s Guide to Dating Jewish Men" throws "shiksa love" – …

It could always be worse. – Just a reminder –

Meanwhile, James Patterson sits atop the London Times Best seller list.  Where’s a good fatwa when you need one?

As Anakin Sywalker once said,

“Nooooooooooooooooooooo!” …

New York Daily News’ Lloyd Grove says: “Fresh from copping a plea to faking her own abduction, “Runaway …

As editor in chief of the Philadelphia City Paper, Duane Swierczynski has to come up with his WTF column each and every week. But sometimes, he gets wonderful ideas that are summarily killed by his …

Yes, I’m late to this party but what the hell. The pictures say it all.

Although I think Mr. Mapother wasn’t subtle enough in his declaration of luuuuuuuv for his lady.

Also, Paul Guyot …

I wish I knew why this fascinates me so much. Then again, maybe not so much, because the fact that the Mr. T comic is only days away from release totally caught me off guard till I found the link on …

Though Book Expo America is still over two weeks away, I can’t be the only one to grapple with the most important question of all: what do I wear?

Luckily, PW’s BEA Roundup from earlier …

I read this last night. I laughed my ass off. I read it again the morning. Same reaction. Oh, dear Paris Hilton, so rich with the one liners! So scintillating with her comments! Like this one:

AP: …

I’m sure each of them will be laughing, or more likely, shaking their heads:

Former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff has been named
international star of the year at the Bollywood movie awards …

Or maybe I’m not seeing something I should:

A Scottish company has just clinched a series of deals to sell sushi to Japan.

The contracts for sashimi style mumbai and piccante flavoured salmon …

I love stories like these. They illuminate darkly lit corners of the human condition, and demonstrate the infallibility of humans. Or something:

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (AP) — A man told
police …

It’s easy to forget things at the library — your card, the book you wanted, normal things like that. But this is just a little bit different:

When
Michele Anderson started to pull a …

So I’ll let it speak for itself:

In what may be a first-of-its-kind case, it was
revealed yesterday that a New York woman charged with murdering her
86-year-old mother had killed before — as a …

Or kids are just getting a hell of a lot savvier now:

WEST SEATTLE, Washington (AP) — A
sixth-grader and two of his friends were suspended after being accused
of using phony dollar bills made …

At last report, The Divine Miss Sarah was in a distant city, mobbed by a bevy of Cute Boys. In a fit of what I can only describe as questionable judgment, she has asked me, Cornelia, to keep an eye on …

Who knew that a mega-bestseller could have so many uses? Certainly not Australian customs:

Canberra – Australian officials cracked The Da Vinci Code when they discovered illegal drugs …

Really, this story speaks for itself:

NEW YORK

(AP) — Eli Lilly & Co. said on Monday it fired an employee who

wrote a book about his tenure as a Pfizer Inc. sales representative

which boasted …

I must be an ostrich or something, because I totally managed to miss this news until now:

TORONTO — One ring to rule them all – and it’s starting in Toronto. David and Ed …

Some things are wrong. But other things, they are just freaking wrong.

No word on what Mademoiselle Lohan thought of the movie. Or whether she read the book it was based on…

UPDATE: Just as I …

As evident in this news story, courtesy of the fabulous Jenny D:

The strange case of the homosexual necrophiliac duck pushed out the boundaries of knowledge in a rather improbable way when it …

I’ll let the story speak for itself and why I couldn’t resist posting this:

AMERICAN cult hero Mr.T will star in a new comic book series published by St Albans-based APComics. …

Are you a fan of Iain Banks? Were you hoping he’d come to the US to tour for his latest SF work THE ALGEBRAIST? Well, your hopes will be dashed because Banks can’t leave the country, as …

Maybe it’s because the work server has been down all day. Maybe I’ve just been in a silly mood that’s making me drool over the (hopefully, but you never know) impending release of …

In truth, I’m not really so into Elvis Costello, although I have liked what early songs of his I’ve heard, but I figured this bit of news, so vaguely literary-related, was worth sharing: …

When this came my way, well, how could I possibly refrain from reporting it?

12 YEAR OLD SIGNS MAJOR DEAL

Grace Kennedy Bruen, a trainee hairdresser, today signed a six figure two-book deal for her …

Archie Bennitz was a rabid hockey fan. He moved to Ottawa three years ago to be closer to his family after his wife died, but even in his 80s, his fandom did not abate. But the lockout made him …

It’s a slow news day and frankly, there’s just so many head scratching articles lately that I have to link to at least a few of them.

First, there’s the “inevitable” …

I could have sworn I read this story a few months ago, but maybe drunken pilots are more normal than I realized:

BERLIN, Germany (AP) — An easyJet pilot has been suspended while the …

Or at least, it is to me:

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) — A man who won a record $315 million in the Powerball lottery was taken to jail on charges of drunken driving and carrying a pistol, …

Because some stories truly write themselves:

A cross-dressing Orthodox Jew pleaded not guilty yesterday to killing an elderly Brooklyn rabbi.

Howard Goldstein was arrested last month at the …

Nicolas Cage’s new wife, Alice Kim, is, I grant, rather young, and who knows what they are or aren’t teaching the kiddies in school these days. But even though it’s probably not …

Now, usually if I see something in the window of the Gap, it means it’s about to be over, but evidently, in the case of ponchos, that is not the case. Luckily Amanda Fortini at Slate agrees with …

Looks like Ken Bruen’s going to have to appease some folks that he is, in fact, actually alive, at least if the Galway Advertiser is to be believed:

Galway author Ken Bruen may have to

start …

It’s a question that several people have asked me since Tuesday, and so, I can provide two primers. The serious version ran at Harper’s Magazine last month and was reprinted yesterday …

Courtesy of Ed (who got it from Wonkette), it seems that porn director Seymore Butts (of ADVENTURES OF…fame) is offering some goodies to people who turn up to vote today:

PORN director Seymore …

So once upon a time, it was seen as a great pasttime to spend many hours and days hitchhiking. Baby Boomers look back on those days with fondness. But now, people just aren’t standing in the …

So if you’ve visited Laura’s website more often than the once-a-month updates on the main page, you might find a picture of her from her senior high school days when she captained her …

William Dahlby’s marriage was in serious trouble, so he came up with a rather drastic solution:

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (AP) — A man who said he threw a live electrical wire into his …

One of Canada’s coldest, flattest cities has obviously decided it needs to get more attention, and if this sticks around, then the city certainly will get more notice:

Going to The Library …

Manchester police sargeant Karl Thurgood’s in a spot of trouble after a recent ebay item he sold was found to be rather, well unorthodox:

A POLICE sergeant is being investigated over claims he …

So it’s bad enough that Starbucks (better known as Starf**ks among certain friends of mine) has infested the culture so much that there’s pretty much one on every block in major cities …

So it’s basically all Ian Rankin, all the time now–FLESHMARKET CLOSE is out, he’s packing the bookstores, and preparing for another gargantuan-sized book tour. But evidently a …

Although I’m not quite exactly hung over, I might as well be judging by the utter fog my brain happens to be in at the moment. It’s really quite remarkable. Hence, the “flights of …

NARA — An elderly man arrested for driving a stolen car has turned out to be the famous author of crime prevention books, police said.

Mototsugu Taoka, 68, of no fixed address, has been jailed …

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (AP) — Authorities are investigating a suspicious mailing — initially thought to be a bomb — that was sent to bestselling author John Grisham at his farm …

I know it would take me a while to get over the sheer incredulity:

LONDON, England (CNN) — London’s police chief has demanded an urgent inquiry after a fathers rights campaigner …

Otherwise, why would I stumble across this choice bit of news?

Publishers Dinamo will make a first presentation of an unusual book project, the Penis Atlas, on Thursday. The work of four sexologists …

So evidently Marks & Spencer (or M&S, or Marks & Sparks, or whatever the hell you want to call it this week) has decided to forgo their no-questions-asked return policy*. So, in a fit of …

This topic has been brought up a time or two before because hell, it’s many a person’s worst nightmare as well, but Goldberg, in his newest column for the Las Vegas Mercury, explains the …

From today’s Times, a story about the dumbing down of English exams.

This year’s national curriculum Shakespeare paper, which was supposed to be related to Macbeth, instead asked teenagers to …

Well, Sarah’s cutting me off today–apparently I’ve had too many (although, I’m fine, Sarah, I can keep blogging–I swear I can. Just one more, blog, please–one more …

The Glasgow Daily Record (that bastion of proper journalistic integrity) reports on a recent survey conducted which concludes that girls judge a man’s desirability by his reading habits: …

Or at least the oddest one, but the glory of Hollywood is in how people can say all sorts of stupid stuff with a straight face. Anyway, the rapper L’il Kim had been rumored to be considering …

i’m bloging from a pal’s house in laguna beach, but i wanted to throw open for coment the whole idea of how writers come up with charcters. this came home to me after my reading thursday …

My tennis fandom days are likely behind me (it just hasn’t been the same since Pete Sampras hung it up) but like clockwork, I tune in every Monday evening to SI senior writer Jon …

Tomorrow is the last day of my temp job, but I pretty much finished up all the loose ends this morning. Never mind that my soon-to-be-ex-boss has been on vacation for a week, and his boss has been out …

One of the current bestsellers in France is a book on how to do the least amount of work while still staying productive. Bonjour Paresse (Hello, Laziness) is a hit–except for the author, whose …

I have no idea if the “phenomenon” that is Kim Mitchell ever filtered down in the old US of A, but no matter–the aging Canadian rocker is switching gears for his next move–as …

Truly, they do:

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — Pop star Michael Jackson, facing a trial on child molestation charges, is about to become a father to four more children — quadruplets …

I suspect this will be the Meme link of the week, so allow me to indulge. Just be careful: although they technically aren’t NSFW, they are, if you know what I mean. (link from New Yorkish.)

Because it’s going to be a bloodbath at the New York Post after this boo-boo.

Book tours and signings are a stressful ordeal in general. But then, sometimes they go just a little past the beyond:

HIROSHIMA — A man who assaulted the head of a bookstore after becoming …

Among the many, many comedy records that were a childhood staple was a greatest hits compilation by Peter Sellers. I’ve blogged about some of my favorite tracks before, and lamented that I …

I saw the new movie The Terminal over the weekend. I liked parts of it, but most of it annoyed me: the Spielbergian cuteness, Tom Hanks’ indecipherable accent, the presence of Catherine …

I think it’s been reported in other places but whatever the case, magician, actor and all-around smartass Penn Jillette (whom most folks know as the tall & talkative half of Penn and Teller) …

LONDON — A thief took more than $180,000 from an automatic teller machine — then apparently returned most of the cash a week later.

Police said Tuesday that the money was taken from the …

For those who, like I did, spent too many hours watching FAMILY TIES and wondering where the devil spawn-child mysteriously appeared from, this news may or may not interest you:

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) …

This is the story of Ernest Di Falco, who just wanted to rob a bank but managed to get every detail wrong:

Di Falco, who is unemployed, entered the bank, approached a teller and displayed the phony …