Toilet talk about aliens and Jesus

I'm inclined to believe this guy is just joshing a credulous TV reporter, but he compares the case for aliens to the evidence that Jesus existed or that people actually made a poopie when they say they did. (Never could I have imagined putting those three subjects in the same sentence.)

A March miracle for the Bruins

The most wonderful time of the year begins now, with the tip-off of the NCAA tournament. The last few years I have taken work off at the start of March Madness to soak in full days of pandemonium. This year is no different. I'm not sure what to expect, no one ever is. But I'm sure there'll be a moment or two as memorable as this one.

My wife and I were cheering so loudly during the Gonzaga-UCLA game two years ago, banging the walls and jumping around like apes for a good 20 minutes, that I seriously expected the cops to show up. They never did, and two days later I was in Oakland watching UCLA eek by Memphis en route to another Final Four.

(Last fall I played poker with Adam Morrison, who was peeling off $100 bills like he was feeding quarters into a pinball machine. I was mature enough not to mention the last game of his college career. Coincidentally, the next morning his season ended when he busted his knee in a game against the Clippers.)

Anyway, enjoy the madness and thank God -- seriously because the tournament starts this year on Maundy Thursday -- that it's March. I'll be back this weekend to wish The God Blog a belated happy birthday.

'Ha! Ha! Your medium is dying!'

"The Simpsons" seem a bit late on this joke, which is so sad because it's so true.

(Hat tip: The old boss.)

'They low-down, they dirty, they some snitches'

I came across this video a few days ago, and it has no religious hook. But it's too funny not to share and it reflects my sentiments for USC.

Could God build a rock so big Romeo couldn't lift it?

That is World's Smallest Bodybuilder Aditya "Romeo" Dev being held aloft. He's 2'9" and weighs less than 20 pounds, according to the story from London's Telegraph. I know this picture looks Photoshopped, but based on the others at the Telegraph's site, Romeo is for real.

'Mario Bros' electric show

My GeekHeeb colleague put this up on his blog last night. I'm not sure how two Tesla cables and a fiber-optic cable running from a laptop create the theme to "Mario Bros," but this is pretty awesome, sort of like "The Prestige." (The Geek Group did a similar demonstration.)



Can someone explain how this works?

Correction of the ... whatever

Editor & Publisher calls this from The Telegraph in London the "Newspaper Correction of the Month (If Not Year)."

Our obituary of Lady Jeanne Campbell (Sept 22) said she had a daughter, Cusi Cram, 'possibly by a man called Guy Nicholas Lancaster.' In fact Mr. Lancaster is Ms. Cram’s brother-in-law and was only five when she was born. We apologise to all concerned for our error.

Bloggers are journalists

The bloggers-aren't-real-reporters story seems to make for intermittent newspaper filler. I, of course, disagree with the premise, in part because so many mainstream reporters now also blog for their media outlet. I apply the same standards to blogging as I do to my stories that appear in The Jewish Journal or the magazines I freelance for. I credit sources that I pull information from and occasionally include reportage on The God Blog that appears no where else.

But plenty of my former colleagues in the daily business still think it's worth kvetching about the evolving definition of "journalism." Deadspin found it in the Detroit News.

Detroit News sports reporter person Chris McCosky was asked to fill space on the weekend, so he went with the "bloggers are not real reporters because they don't talk to people" story:

A lot of times these bloggers use the work of legitimate reporters. They will lift facts and segments of stories and cut and paste them onto their blog. Rarely, if ever, though, do they bother to credit the source.

...

Bloggers are having a field day speculating on how Joel Zumaya really injured his shoulder. Nobody believes a heavy box fell on him. So the Internet is rife with stories about how he fell off his dirt bike.

As a Tigers fan, I knew about Zumaya's untimely injury, but I didn't hear about the dirt bike angle. Unfortunately, McCosky didn't cite which blog said this, so I'll never know.

But because there is no accountability, because there are no repercussions for being wrong, because they will never have to look Zumaya in the face, who cares? Make up whatever you want.

Well, I wasn't gonna make stuff up, but ... oh why not.

One day Chris McCosky got piss drunk and stumbled into a day care, punching any children that got in his way. He stole seven vanilla cupcakes and three kids' blankies. He tied the blankies totogether, forming a cape, and pretended to fly out of the day care. Once he reached the sidewalk, he crashed into an unsuspecting Joel Zumaya, who was out walking his Yorkshire terrier. McCosky was unhurt, as Zumaya's right shoulder broke his fall. According to numerous reliable eyewitness accounts, McCosky promptly got up, stole a dirt bike that was parked on the side of the road, and drove to work.

Deadspin's Sussman forgot to mention in his fictitious reporting that McCosky kicked Zumaya's terrier before stealing his dirt bike.

Do it ... Come on ... Do it

The All-Bran challenge: Do it, feel it.



Slate has a funny commentary on the boldness of a bran ad that shows "barrels actually plop out from behind that guy's butt."

Waking up in the morgue

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.

"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," Camejo said, according to a report on Friday in leading local newspaper El Universal.

His grieving wife turned up at the morgue to identify her husband's body only to find him moved into a corridor -- and alive.

Wow. This reminds me of that scene from "Heroes" when Claire Bennet, whose body spontaneously regenerates when injured, wakes up on a cold table with her torso butterflied. You can see that clip -- not for the squeamish -- here; "Heroes" is back for Season 2 in a week.