Beyond Beyond the Fringe category archive

Purchasing preference. (Warning: Too many “horribles.” Not that they are unwarranted, just beat to death.)

There are four million stories in the naked city.

Oh, my.

Police in Prospect Heights, Illinois arrested a Milwaukee woman Thursday who allegedly pepper sprayed and robbed a 14-year-old boy who tried to hire her for sex. According to the Chicago Tribune, 22-year-old Dareka R. Brooks is set to be arraigned in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday on charges of armed robbery.

MarketWatch reports on the suffering of the wedding industrial complex.

Oh! the horror.

Even as the industry pushes couples to obsess over details, more vendors are charging for those heightened expectations. Prices often have a 20% to 25% “marriage markup” compared with the cost to, say, rent the same space for a Sweet 16 or to buy floral centerpieces for an anniversary party, says Alan Fields, co-author of “Bridal Bargains.” “It’s lose-lose,” he says. “The industry creates this bridezilla character and encourages that behavior, and then says they have to charge you for it.” In some cases, the fee is more explicit. Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis has a “bridezilla clause” in its contract, charging overly detail-oriented brides and grooms $5 per email or $12 per 15-minute increment of time required to respond, whichever is less.

Until I read this, I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as “wedding insurance.”

What a racket.

Video via io9. Story via Wait! Wait!

Via All Things Amazing, an amazing image site. Some images NSFW.

And here I always thought that term was reserved as playful slang for mobile hoagie vendors.

Amidst public fainting spells about the percentage of Wisconsinites (Wisconsians?) reputed to be binge drinkers, Jim Stingl offers a helpful diagnositic checklist. A nugget:

If you go to Miller Park and forget to walk into the stadium for the game, you might be a binge drinker.

If you look at a map of Wisconsin and think the Door County peninsula looks like a bottle opener, you might be a binge drinker.

If you find all the girls (or guys) really do get prettier at closing time, you might be a binge drinker.

All seriousness aside, as much as I like my tipple, I find the present glorifying of sports palace “tailgate” parties to be a bit outre.

The Streak is baaaaaccccck, spotted at a wedding this weekend.

___________________

*With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel.

Little green men freak school principal.

Grown-ups are stupid.

If you are depressed by the politicians in your state (I am constantly depressed by the lunacy here in the Regency), read Laurie’s list of the top ten kooks in the Arizona legislature.

There is no truth to the rumor that fashion designers hate women.

None whatsoever.

Jack may have been all work and no play, but Jill was all pay and no work.

The story has been unfolding for two years now.

It’s one of the strangest bureaucratic mix-ups you can ever read about.

Now a scapegoat has been found–not an entirely blameless scapegoat, but, as far as I can tell, a scapegoat nonetheless. The events involved too many persons and went on far too long to affix the blame on one person only.

I still have a nagging feeling that there’s more to be uncovered.

I crossed this bridge just last week.

When we were kids visiting our grandmother in South Carolina, the Gilmerton Bridge was a sign that we were almost home.

Its unusual design, high lift towers, and view of the harbor made crossing it almost a blast.

A construction crew demolishing part of the old bridge span as a new vertical-lift bridge is completed across South Military Highway found something irregular in concrete – old military ammunition.

Construction crews called 911 at 7:45 a.m. – morning rush hour – and the bridge that spans the Elizabeth River was sealed off to traffic until 3:45 p.m.

Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians responded to the scene and found three inert artillery shells about 15 inches long, said Capt. Scott Saunders, a Fire Department spokesman. . . . .

Almost a blast.

Always reliable. Reliable how, well, that’s another issue.

Let kavips explain.

The haves forever demonize the have-nots.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Write your own title.

I’m sure you can think of several.

I know I did.

Couldn’t use any of them.

Vandalism in Mahanoy Area High School boys’ bathrooms has resulted in toilet paper being issued by request as needed, a policy that one parent believes is embarrassing for students.

Karen Yedsena, Mahanoy City, spoke during the public portion of Thursday’s school board meeting, asking about the policy.

“I’m asking about the high school and why the boys are not allowed to have toilet paper except if they go to the nurse or the office to get it,” Yedsena said.

The boys’ bathrooms in the high school do not have toilet paper due to vandalism. Any boy needing the bathroom tissue must ask for it and sign it out.

It seems that the drains have been repeatedly stopped up with paper.

I’m thinking, switch suppliers. Maybe give the kids newspaper.

The classified section would seem appropriate.

All seriousness aside, administrators seem to be desperately punishing everyone for the sins of the few.

Not that persons in charge have ever done anything like that before.

Clearly, students have the administrators on the runs.

Via the Tampa Bay Times.

Oh, my.

Ellwood City (Pennsylvania–ed.) police have cited a 15-year-old boy with harassing a 26-year-old female teacher in the Lawrence County town’s Lincoln High School.

The Ellwood City patrolman who filed the citation reported he had “never seen a student that was so infatuated with a teacher.”