Running to help

That's our Mayor, Lee Leffingwell, as Batman. It's a fitting choice of superhero for him because this is a bat-oriented city. The reason these folks are addressing the press dressed up like this is to promote the CASA Superhero Run on Sep. 30. CASA is "Court Appointed Special Advocates" and their purpose is to help abused kids to get into a safer situation. The motto of the run is "Every child needs a hero, but abused children need superheroes." This video is just too darned cute.

2011 CASA Superhero Run from CASA of Travis County on Vimeo.

On Oct 20 there will be a differently-themed run called the Austin Thong Jog, held in honor of the memory of Leslie and benefiting the homeless. This is the first one, so there's no archived footage, only this little promo.

A bit less dressed than the first event, but probably more dressed than this annual World Naked Bike Rise that Austin participates in every June.


The Thong Jog happens at the same time that MrB likes to ride his bike (in costume) in the Tour de Fat Parade so we might miss the underwear spectacle. I can't run or jog (with this misbehaving foot of mine) and never could ride a cycle with fewer than 3 wheels - so I'm pretty much a freak and a permanent spectator, but I'm glad for the folks who do get to play along.

How do I look?

[Seen in parking lot last Friday.]

Death, warmed-over

Seen today on South Congress Avenue, always a good place for people-watching, day or night... it's a real person in that getup, which isn't that strange except for the fact that it got up to 102°F today (38.8°C) with a heat index of 107° - and he/she did it voluntarily and not as part of one of those "dress up as a mascot and wave to people driving by" jobs.

Maybe I will do this...

...but not until I'm so old I don't mind dying. Her skydive did not go completely as planned (watch your volume when you hit play), and it was a little awkward, to say the least.

Here's an interview with her afterward. Seems like she's ready for another adventure!

Big dirtball

How dry it is...
This big planter sits on a patio of a local restaurant. With half the pot broken off, the dirt remains solid.

(That post title probably made you think this was another Rick Perry post, huh?)

Had to double check this

not posted on April 1st?
check.
not from The Onion?
check.

How Nazi Scientists Tried to Create an Army of Talking Dogs

A tiger survivor

A golf course, cricket grounds, and streets cleared and evacuated, armed police with a helicopter on the scene, zoo wranglers with tranquilizer darts! A white tiger (a beast escaped!!) had been spotted in a field!

It was a mighty cool cat who didn't even register on the thermal-imaging cameras!! He showed no fear of the helicopters, either! A blast of helicopter wind blew the tiger over onto his back, and exposed the beast as a plushie.

Here's the story.

Sphynx dreaming

Big ugly Brazilian Wanders to Wisconsin Walmart.

spider buffer

spider buffer

spider buffer

spider buffer

spider buffer

get ready

for the

spider picture

1...2...3...

I just had to to a screen grab of this because it really appears that Walmart is trying to sell you a defective spider. You should really avoid Walmart if you are spider-shopping.

Actually, the opposite may be true. In this real story, a couple ended up with a furry surprise in their bagged bananas they bought at Walmart.

Now my bananas are freaking me out, even though I don't buy them at Walmart.

Cuuuuuuuuute

This is a few months old, but I just saw it for the first time today. Enjoy!

Some things ARE bigger in Texas

They are still calling this thing a pothole, even though it's still growing and could be 20ft wide by 9-12ft deep by now, and may possibly have the equivalent of a cave underneath it. Somebody messed up.

Does that make me crazy?

I will admit that I wouldn't mind tasting a beer made from a 2,550 year old Celtic recipe... even if it did smell like a billy goat. (But, hey... that was only Emperor Julian's opinion.)

I hope this is the craziest damn thing you read today

While Screaming Bible Passages, 'Ugly Betty' Actor Kills Mother With Samurai Sword (with video)

MSNBC: A neighbor told WPIX that he heard a man shouting Biblical passages "like repent, repent, repent."

Brea, 31, was later taken into custody, WPIX said.

The New York Daily News reported that Yannick Brea, 55, was stabbed repeatedly with a sword. WPIX reported that she was found decapitated.

Religion and insanity: deadly mixture.

A disturbing trend

2008
Pet dog gnaws off disabled woman's toe
Dog was a miniature dachshund, and the woman was sleeping.

"It's hard to take in when you walk in a room and there's a dog eating your mom," Elizabeth said, sobbing. "She told me to come in, and I dropped my phone and took off running. I didn't think when I went in there I was going to see that."

2008
Man's Puppy Chews Off Four Of His Toes
This is a paralyzed sleeping man.

It appears the five-month-old pit bull mix named China, was playing with her owner's feet and ended up taking off all the toes, except the big toe on his left foot.

Cantrell says the dog is harmless and has never been violent in the past.

2009
Authorities: Pit bull chewed off baby's toes
You should have to pass a mother test before breeding.

Deputies say the child's mother, Robie Lynn Jenkins, and her boyfriend, Tremayne Spillman, were dog-sitting for a man arrested Saturday night for illegal possession of a gun.

Jenkins told police she was on medication and didn't hear the child crying during the night while she slept in the same room. She said she didn't discover the injury until she changed the child's diaper Monday morning.

2010
Dog chews off Michigan man's toe, saves his life
And the latest story in the series, this was a Jack Russell terrier, and the man was drunk and otherwise unaware of certain circumstances. He was a musician, and I have to think that maybe this will, at the very least, inspire a song.

"The dog always lays with me on the bed," said Douthett. "That night, I woke up and looked down at my foot, and it was wet. When I looked it was blood, and there was the dog looking at me with a blood mustache."

Cookie robbery

This morning I opened a fresh box of my darling little 100-calorie bags of chocolate chip cookies from HEB, the ones that help me get through an afternoon of munchies, desk boredom, and sweet cravings – and inside the sealed box, instead of the little fun bags (and now I’m reminded of something Dr. House says, except he’s not talking about bags of cookies), there is an *opened* package of a completely different product. It was an opened package of sugar wafers, a different brand, and there were a few loose wafers at the bottom of the box.

Whine.

Some assembly-line worker’s practical joke means an extra trip to the store for a $2 refund, and no sweetness or chocolate chips for me.

Oh. The. Horror.

[link]

DIY fashion

More like "Overmosts"

via Dave Barry

Disappointing, to say the least

Man goes looking for biological father... was really hoping for better news.

You'll get weird looks but won't even know it.

Having problems with glare? Maybe you bought a Snuggie® and it doesn't quite bundle up all the right things? Or just need some privacy?

Featured as one of the 15 Stupidest Products of All Time.

I. P. Freely

Go Girl female urination device claims to be mess free. Is that possible?

Maybe you should consider the paper urine trousers instead.