A Sunday Smorgasbord

Another random collection of oddities that I've noticed during my weekly surfing:

• New York CIty has been suffering from a bedbug epidemic, and even some of the five-star hotels aren't immune from the problem. (I'm glad this wasn't happening a year ago, when I went up there for the IAJE convention).


• A woman in Michigan ran a stop sign and then collided with a utility pole last week, but even the fact that her truck subsequently caught on fire wasn't enough to make her stop driving (at least until the vehicle was totally engulfed in flames).


• Theatregoers in Berlin were forced to flee recently when, at a time in the play when stage fog was supposed to be released, tear gas came out instead.


• A man using a GPS system to navigate drove right into the path of a train. (I guess that goes to show that, no matter how cool our new technology is, common sense must still prevail.)


• Now this is just wrong: A Wisconsin man is accused of sneaking into a 2-year-old's room and stealing $20 from her piggy bank while she slept.


• A man in Toronto was clocked driving at 100 mph in ice and snow. What makes it even more unusual is that he's 85 years old.


• My second-favorite headline of the past week: Wisconsin seeks less cheesy image. (Perhaps it would help if fewer people were seen wearing these things on their heads.)


• My favorite headline of the past week: Man douses fire with aunt's underwear. (And even though it saved the day, I'm sure the aunt is delighted that the whole world knows that she wears size XL powder-blue undies.)

A music-related post is on the way for tomorrow...