It's interesting how death rites differ in various regions of the country:
Detroit police say they've found the partially mummified body of a woman in her 80s on the kitchen floor of a house where her mentally troubled sister was living.Police say they believe the surviving sister had been living with the body for one to three years. They say the body was partially covered with newspapers and that a cat and dog apparently ate part of it.
Down here we usually bury our dead. It might be that way though because, it being so darn humid around here, mummifying just never got a chance to catch on.
"Duane's keen ears pick up the sound of rustling tinfoil in the photographer's pocket."
A great photo that I'm reposting.
Wail on, Skydog!
Via Mike, another from the cold and windswept giant rock photofest.
Wail on, Skydog!
And from Robert, a terrific new article at the Gibson site on the incredible guitarists of the ABB.
Thanks Mike and Robert!
Another pretty tambourine chick for James. They're everywhere! Of course, it's the other chick in the video, the one without the tambourine, who had all the talent.
Nice how this tune is still so good after 40 years:
Some late-breaking collective noun news from the West Coast:
Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption — except there are no volcanoes in the area.
It lacks the whimsy of my own self-coined "doorjamb," but there you have it. A swarm of earthquakes. Jot it down.
She was wonderful conversationalist; an effervescent and natural raconteur, full of witty repartee, or so I surmised as a child while skating around the rink listening to Marietta, Georgia native Billy Joe Royal singing her praises. I had no idea she was a pig-spawned trollop. That's probably a good thing since I wouldn't have been able to pronounce it right anyway.
What a great voice Billy Joe had.
For those who are following the raid on the FLDS compound in Texas, cult expert Rick Ross has a section of articles going back a decade on the various Mormon polygamist splinter groups.
Legally, there should be a lot of charges to go around, including welfare fraud, the abandonment of teen boys, and of course the practice of marrying off little girls.
At the 45 minute mark of the "Mind Games" episode of the radio program "This American Life" is an interesting segment on Elizabeth Smart called "Invisible Girl." In it the author questions why with her picture plastered everywhere in the Salt Lake City environs, no one there recognized her. He speaks with many people who saw the trio of Emmanuel, the woman, and the girl, including the author's own son who had gone to school with Elizabeth. He got an answer he wouldn't have got in any other state.
Also, the Arizona Republic followed the story of two girls who had fled the Colorado City community and how they attempted to adjust to the outside world.
Hello, Instant Karma Taxi Service? Can we get a lift into the hereafter?
Two teenage girls who attempted to rob a cab driver, slashing his face with a box cutter, were thrown from the taxi and killed in a wreck on Tuesday, police said.The 50-year-old driver was taken to a hospital and released after receiving treatment for minor injuries, including cuts to his neck and face, Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Officer April Harding said. His name was not immediately released.
Two 17-year-old girls flagged down the cab at about 12:30 a.m. in eastern Los Angeles and asked to be taken to a nearby housing project, police said.
The girls were Alexous Ann Sandoval and Daisy Orozco, both Los Angeles residents, the coroner's office said.
When they pulled up, one girl said her boyfriend would come down to pay their fare. Instead, he approached the cab with a gun, Harding said.
The cab driver apparently sped away with the women still in the back seat.
"The cab driver got scared," Harding said. "One of the females pulled out a box cutter and began cutting the taxi cab driver and that's what caused him to crash."
It appeared the cab driver believed he was being followed by a gunman, police said. Two men were detained and being questioned about the incident, Harding said.
Like a job that blends tedium with sudden moments of terror? Look into taxi driving and 7-11 clerking.
Here's one of the girl's MySpace pages. She liked toads and Vin Diesel; in other words she had redundant interests.
Thanks to Steve for scanning and sending this pic he got from Twiggs of Duane at the Macon Coliseum.
Wail on, Skydog!
An old friend takes another moonlit dip with the gators:
He was naked. In a pond. In the dark. There were alligators.Sound familiar?
Ask the two deputy sheriffs who found Adrian Apgar nude early Friday, wading in a Lakeland-area pond.
Apgar told the officers he was looking for an alligator.
About 15 months ago, one tried to eat him.
He made national news in November 2006 when deputies rescued him from the jaws of a huge alligator in Lake Parker. He was naked when they pulled him from the lake in east Lakeland off U.S. Highway 92.
During that attack, deputies engaged in a tug of war with the alligator.
The reptile ripped off much of Apgar's left arm and bit his back, buttocks and thigh. Apgar spent months recovering from his life-threatening injuries at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.
On Friday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his deputies had once again saved Apgar's life, possibly rescuing him from another alligator attack.
About midnight Thursday, a patrol deputy spotted an unoccupied pickup truck parked near a pond at Saddle Creek Park on U.S. Highway 92 between Lakeland and Auburndale.
The deputy checked the truck's tag, and afterward, realizing Apgar owned the truck, called for another deputy familiar with the 2006 attack.
The deputies searched the park for Apgar and eventually found him in the pond walking toward an alligator about 50 feet offshore. The only way to that location was through thick brush.
The deputies talked Apgar, 47, safely out of the water. He told them he had been bitten by a snake while looking for the alligator.
He was hospitalized at Lakeland Regional under the state law that allows people to be held for evaluation if they appear to be a threat to themselves or others.
"I feel sorry for him because obviously he's got mental issues," Judd said.
"This guy lost his arm, was in the hospital for months . . . and now he's back . . . "
Judd said credit goes to his deputies, who "ultimately saved the guy's life."
When a sergeant at the scene shone his flashlight into the pond, several sets of alligator eyes were looking back.
"He had more than ample opportunity to wander off and drown himself," Judd said.
After the first attack, deputies said Apgar told them he had been smoking crack cocaine, a statement he later denied. A doctor reported Apgar told him he had been smoking methamphetamines before the attack, and a nurse said he tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamines.
"He's not just a menace to society, he's a menace to himself," Judd said.
"He's past being comical; he has real issues."
Apgar never responded to multiple requests for interviews after the 2006 attack. A voice mail left on his listed telephone number was not returned Friday.
Judd said Apgar will face criminal charges, including trespassing.
Well, I'm glad they went to check on him when they saw his license plate. It's not too surprising he got Baker Acted for this. I wonder though, do his criminal charges include attempting to feed an alligator?
Here's the 911 call from 2006.
A favorite of mine from the Ronnie Hawkins sessions in Muscle Shoals.
Wail on, Skydog!
Some nice playing in the link above, and one "Go, Skydog!" from Ronnie.
These south Georgia tykes get an "A" for organization and a special field trip to juvie hall:
Nine Ware County third-grade students have been suspended from their Waycross elementary school after being accused of bringing several items to school in order to hurt their teacher.Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner on Tuesday released pictures of the evidence, which includes a steak knife, a paperweight, handcuffs, gloves and several rolls of tape.
According to Tanner, the motive for the plot might have been to get revenge on a teacher after she disciplined a girl in her classroom for standing on a chair.
Authorities got word of the alleged plot at Center Elementary School on Friday when another student reported seeing the knife in the possession of another child.
The 8- and 9-year-olds have been accused of being involved in a plan to harm a teacher, but some parents said the plot was much worse. Channel 4 received several e-mails from parents who claimed the students wanted to kill their teacher.
The headline in Monday's Waycross Journal-Herald read murder.
"I have not heard that word used. The principal says they were planning to harm their teacher," said Theresa Martin, of Ware County Schools.
Investigators confirmed the students brought a steak knife, a roll of duct tape, handcuffs, ribbon and a heavy crystal paperweight to school.
Licensed mental health counselor Audrey Dearborn called the allegations against the third-graders alarming.
"Before you would see these types of behavior in high school. Now, we've skipped the middle school and gone right to the third grade," Dearborn said.
Dearborn said a lot of kids view school as an environment where they have to fight to succeed and be treated fairly, but Dearborn said kids need to be taught that the word fight should not be taken literally.
"They have distorted views about how to handle problems in their society," Dearborn said. "They respond the way the cartoon characters do- - they fight with aggression. This is a cry for help. They are saying, 'I am angry. I am hurt and I am striking out. We need to help them."
Tanner said the parents of the children accused are, "Shocked, saddened, and surprised. This is their worst nightmare."
Lucky us, we get more twaddle from of the ubiquitous Audrey Dearborn, the "licensed mental health counselor" (an oozy and ill-defined term) who pops up on Jacksonville news stations like a frontier-gibberish-speaking prairie dog to offer far-fetched conclusions on the topic du jour. For once I wish the media would call a university and ask to speak to a sociologist when doing pieces on societal issues. Saying this is a "cry for help" is inane and uninformative.
Take away the swing sets and playgrounds and exercise yards aren't that much different: they both filled with ringleaders and their sheep. It's interesting that one little pint-sized alpha managed to get eight other little kids ready and set to kill with none breathing a word about the plot.
I had a teacher friend who summed up his classroom observations with "Build more prisons!" I know I had a flexible view of law and morality for most of my school years. I'm glad I never ran into influences this toxic.
