h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A bit harsh, maybe? I mean, you can't turn off all the lights in an entire town on a whim - streetlights, house lights, shop signs, the lights inside the shops, the lights on the roadsigns, the light over the dartboard (I wonder if they managed to turn off the traffic lights too? *crash tinkle* ). There has to be some planning for that sort of thing but the British weather isn't always co-operative, so if it's planned to happen on a day the weather turns out to be crap, doing it anyway is just a bit of fun and let's plan to do it another day and hope the weather plays along. Hardly worthy of a facepalm or an entry in this thread, compared to some of the *real* stupidity in previous posts here.

Yea, this one was more of a face palm with a grin and chuckle.

I've lived in towns or cities all my life, and although I've spent a few days at a time, or maybe a week out in the country, I've never knowingly seen the Milky Way

When I was a kid I could see it at my grandparents' farm in West (bygod) Virginia. The last time I was there local development had ended that, however I did see it when we were fishing on one of the lakes about an hour away.

I know I've been in situations away from most artificial light where I could have seen it, but I was either driving, or too young to really know about it, or too, er drunk. Yes, that's it, drunk. Nothing else

http://vimeo.com/17675494

Last week, as I was driving home through rush hour traffic, I saw this silly fellow riding a unicycle up the Kemah bridge. (Kemah is a small tourist town which has a prominent tall bridge over the entrance to Clear Lake. The Johnson Space Center is sited on near the other side of Clear Lake.) The unicycle wasn't a beginner version. It had a rather large wheel, maybe 40" in diameter. He didn't seem very good at it. I was very concerned he might either swerve into traffic or fall off the bridge.

Well, he made the news this week.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Naked-unicyclist-charged-for-distracting-drivers-3548333.php

Leaving aside the idiot on the unicycle (and there's one or two of those in this town too, although they seem to keep their kit on, thank Bob), why the need to insert pronunciations into the story?

I'm not quite sure... I think the (AP) did it. Here is, I believe, the Houston Chronicle's original version of the story.

http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2012/05/police-arrest-naked-man-riding-unicycle/

It's seems well written; it includes some quotes from the arresting officer that are amusing. More importantly, everyone in the greater Houston area knows how to pronounce Kemah. I, personally, pronounce it "fer-TEET-ah-vil" in honor of the man who made it the tourist trap it is today, Tillman Fertitta (owner of Joe's Crab Shack, Rainforest Cafe, The Aquarium, Landry's, &c).

I guess when the AP picked it up, they made the changes and the Chronicle replaced their original with the AP version.

VIDEO!

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Police-arrest-naked-man-riding-unicycle/-/1735978/13032602/-/137uva8z/-/index.html

"He wasn't armed, we could tell"

OK... Adidas previews a new daring pair of "stylish kicks" on its facebook page and creates an uproar.

http://thelook.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/19/12296143-adidas-cancels-release-of-controversial-shackle-sneaker?lite

I see them and I can't help but think of the obvious pun.

Slave trainers?

W-e-e-e-l-l... I suppose they have the advantage that if anyone's going to steal your trainers they're going to have to cut your feet off, and how many thieves are going to go those lengths?

I think the hoohah surrounding these trainers is silly. Just because they have shackles on them people are up in arms saying it's racist towards black people because it's a nod towards slavery etc, but I disagree. Will these trainers only be available to black people, or masochists for that matter? I think not. It's just a daft marketing gimmick, but as per usual people are reading far too much into it.

Possibly. I don't think it was intentional, but the iconography of actual chains, even if they are bright orange plastic, is just a bit overly suggestive.

When I was a kid, my uncle taught me how to tie a noose. Not for any nefarious purposes, just out of the morbid curiosity of young males. I was quite proud of my ability to tie perfect 13 'knot' nooses. I'd often tie them in my shoe strings if they were long enough.

Now, what do you think the chances are of me not being required to attend sensitivity training, at the least, if I did the same at work today?

Sensitivity training? Oh dear, are bosses on that side of the pond really that paranoid? If I were to sit and fashion a noose in my old job, the worst thing I'd have to endure is jokes about doing a Michael Hutchence

Remember, I live in "The South". There have been some racially motivated displays of nooses recently here in the Houston area. We've also had a high profile case of a fire dept. captain stirring up protests over a noose he had in his locker. In this case it was not racially motivated, but the dust up it caused was quite serious.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6934771

So, I agree, the slave trainers were doubtlessly NOT intentionally designed to stir up such trouble, but it's easy for me to see how they could.

Basically, I think these shoes would go well with "Bad Idea Jeans".
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1144782873/ *

*Video may not display in your area.

Ah yes, I did forget that you're in the south It must be a nightmare at times to keep from offending anyone.

Oh, I try.

Did I tell you about my bumper sticker?

"God was my copilot. But we crashed in the Andes and I had to eat him."


One of these days, someone is going to push me into cross traffic.

I want one of those!