Wash those whips first....

Turns out crucifixion is bad for you . Who'da thunk it?

MANILA - Health officials in the Philippines warned the Roman Catholic faithful Wednesday that re-enacting the crucifixion could be bad for their health.On Good Friday, dozens of people, mostly men, will be nailed to wooden crosses, while hundreds more will strip to the waist and whip themselves until their backs are cut and bloody as a way of atoning for their sins over the past year.
The department of health advised people taking part in the rituals to have a tetanus injection and to check the condition of the whip they will use before lashing their backs. It said dirty whips "welcome all sorts of infections and bacteria like tetanus.

If I were inclined to atone for my sins I'd rather just say 2 Our Fathers and 6 Hail Marys.

Owney the travelling dog

Futility Closet is an intelligent blog that never fails to amuse me. Today this story about Owney, the world's best-traveled canine was featured and I just have to share it.

Can't Tase This...

Via Optical Poptitude

And in a related Gadling piece:

Lampered, a firearm training system, has patented a bracelet that delivers shocks when activated. What does the company see as the ideal use for such a bracelet? Aviation safety. Lampered proposes that the TSA require every passenger to wear one of the bracelets, and as soon as any safety related problems arise in-flight, flight-attendants can give a disabling electrical shock to a suspect passenger.

Pysanki

Nicknames

As Mr. Nag and I slip into our twilight years we sometimes find ourselves unable to remember the names of people we have recently met so we refer to them in a code only we can understand - sort of like twin-speak only in this case it could be called old-speak. One fellow who bears an unfortunate resemblance to the kid diddler in the movie "Little Children" is known to us as "The Pedophile". Another, who made the mistake of dressing as a woman one Halloween, is "The Transvestite". The strange guy whose name I never knew but who stops me on the street to talk politics we have dubbed "The Pundit". The plasterer down the street is called "Phil", short for "Phil McCrackin" (fill my crack in, get it?). So far we have been able to keep any references to "The Pedophile" and "The Transvestite" between ourselves and have thus avoided being sued.
Years ago I knew a fellow who was 6'8" and shambled along in a distinctive fashion reminiscent of a certain Adams Family character; he also, I'm sad to say, bore similar facial features. He was christened with the obvious nickname and was seldom referred to, at least when he was out of earshot, by his given name. I knew the nicknaming thing had gone too far when I heard someone introducing the fellow to some colleagues as "Lurch".
I wonder what people call me when I'm not around? I shudder to think about it.

World’s Most Expensive Foods

World’s Most Expensive Foods
I wouldn't spend money on gold flake or hand painted bottles. That's not food. Nor could I tell the difference between $250 whiskey and $25,000 whiskey (although I could probably tell $25 whiskey from the$250 stuff). Maybe I'm just not a connoisseur. On second thought, there's no maybe about it.

Dog Years

A sweet little film about a mature, castrated, British dog.

Ne dites pas ça, c'est sacré!!

The latest dance craze from my hometown makes me mildly uncomfortable. The use of names of sacred objects as profanity (calice, ciboire, tabarnak, etc.) is, I think, peculiar to Quebec. I still cringe a little when I hear these words uttered outside of catechism class or church.

The end of the affair

Petra the swan separates from boat

BERLIN–A long and unusual German love story is over.
Petra the swan and her swan-shaped paddleboat are parting ways.
Petra, a black swan, became a minor celebrity in 2006 when she became so attached to the boat – which is shaped like an oversized white swan – that she refused to leave its side.
Officials in the western city of Muenster decided to let her stay with it over the winter, bringing both bird and boat into a city zoo.

However, Petra met a live swan this winter.
Zoo director Joerg Adler says Petra and her new mate – a white swan – are building a nest together.
The boat is to be returned to its local owner on Thursday.

Roll me one with a side of eggs over easy

This is for the legion of bacon lovers who haunt the web, trolling for smoked pig products (you know who you are).

Bacon Flavored Rolling Paper

Via