Reporting Across Cultures

The SightSpeed Guy talks up #2 Kazakh reporter Borat in an attempt to understand why one of his countrymen would offer a car in exchange for his horses.

For the video report, click here.

C'est What?

Canadian province British Columbia wants to allow people to say "I'm sorry" without being legally liable for whatever they're sorry for. Which would make it easier for Wayne Gretzy to admit at least tacit complicity to gambling. But Canucks would love him anyway.

For the video report, click here.

Man Makes Cause for Cyborg Record-Breaking

Kiwi double-amputee Mark Inglis is taking his prosthetic legs with him to Mt. Everest - along with a second pair. Mt. Everest purists cry foul, claiming it trivializes their whole-human efforts. "It just isn't right," Skip Hiemerburtonstag complained. "What's a death-defying feat if you can't feel your toes slowly turn to ice and have to break them off to avoid gangrene? It cheapens the challenge." For the video report, click here.

Music Mondays - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

New Yeah Yeah Yeahs album Show Your Bones grew on me. Pretty quickly. And I say this as one who did not want to like it. Not just because it was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but because I really did try to like their debut album, Fever to Tell, but couldn't. While seeing YYY live is definitely an experience, beer pouring over your body and/or spitting it out can only be done so many different ways, before you realize that Karen O's vocals can be just a little irritating. At times. Which apparently many people liked and why YYY did so well: alternatively jarring and soothing, the first album refused to be catagorized as it both tortured and comforted.

I don't particularly like being tortured. And so it was with expectation of more of the same that I listened to Show Your Bones. And I'm glad to say I'm glad I'm disappointed. Because Karen O may have taken a queue from the crossover success of Maps (it played on Alice fercryinoutloud) and toned down the yelps and howls to something slightly less abrasive. Which is not to say it sounds different, just - well, almost pretty.

Karen O does let her vocals roar from time to time, and when she does, such as on Way Out, it's a pleasant surprise rather than constant aural excess. It would be a welcome change to see her voice become what Siouxsie's became with time, or Chrissie Hynde - though I hope never as sedate as the latter. Nick Zinner's guitar still governs the guitar with incredible precision, but more definitively, and even Brian Chase's drumming seems a little less pounding, though no less mind-bogglingly complex.

Whereas the first album captured YYY with the raw immediacy that reflected the live performances, Show Your Bones is a studio album, with additional effects & instrumentation. As such, it makes a case for fans of Fever to Tell who may lament that the overproduction takes away from the band's intensity. And they'd be right.

That said, whereas the edges are cleaner, the album still manages to maintain diversity, from the driving dark guitars and pounding percussion on Fancy to the jangley Appalachian dirge Warrior. The extra hands create a layered sense of depth that the two-dimensional first album lacked, making the album more rewarding with each listen.

YYY gains plaudits (and likely more fans) with this more (or possibly, too) refined album. Where Fever to Tell forced you to listen, Show Your Bones schemes textured sounds to make you want to listen.

If Only Getting Rid of Herpes Was This Easy

The thought police strike again when an Islamic man uttered the triple talac in his sleep, which local religious leaders says offically constitutes a divorce. For the video report, click here.

Plus: Brooklyn street swallows up SUV "because I was hungry."

Don't Worry, Honey, We're All Crazy

64 year old Elizabeth Noah had been going to Walgreens for almost 20 years, getting various sundries in addition to her anxiety medication, never paying any mind to the Drug Utilization Review – or DUR – stapled to her bag. Never, that is, until February 6, when she read the words:

"Watch controls she seems shady"

She has joined two other women in a lawsuit against Walgreens for emotional distress brought on by comparisons to a douchebag. View the video report here.

Don't Mess With Texas. Or Get Drunk.

In a preventative measure against doing stupid things while drunk, 30 intoxicated people were arrested in bars for public intoxication.
The apparent success has the TABC proles considering installing telescreens to prevent spousal abuse.

For the video report, click here.

The Doc Just Keeps On Ridin' That Train

Despite the fact that cocaine went out of style before his career even started, Dwight Gooden can't keep his nose out of it, he admitted this morning in court, apparently not before consulting professional toker & ameteur fibber Barry Bonds.
For the video report, click here.

The 11th Plague: Bird Flu

Jewish Pat Robertson counterpart Rabbi David Basri points to the hand of God bringing bird flu on the nation of Israel for "strengthening & promoting homosexuality," prompting international mockery and a shudder of alarm from Paramount Pictures.

For the video report, click here.

Snake Kissing - It's for Everybody!

Back in January a Malaysian man announced his intent to break the poisonous snake kissing record. Apparently recorded on Ripley's Believe It or Not, the man did it, proving that feeble gimmicks to gain world recognition is not just for Kevin Federline.

For the video report, click here.

PS - No Music Monday today; I'm snowboarding in Tahoe. Will return next week. Got any music suggestions? Email me.

World Relieved Bill Murray Still Alive

When he died, Slobodan Milosovic had been on trail for 66 counts of war crimes. I didn't even know there were that many. Locals didn't quite know weather or not to pay homage to, on one count, "the man who loved his country more than any other Serb," and by 66 other counts, "damaged Serbia more than anyone else." At least when people chant his name, it sounds kinda cool. The short name, not his whole name. Though that would be kinda cool, too.
For the Video Report, click here.

High School Student Recites Pi to 8,784 Digits

15-year-old Gaurav Rajav thought of the most boring useless challenge ever by attempting to memorize as many digits of Pi to set a new North American record. While not quite reaching his goal of 10,790 digits, Rajav's recitation now ranks among the top dozen in the world, winning him the admiration of, like, six people.


For the video report, click here.

Reimbursement Left for Smashed Car Window

After demolishing Charlotte Papenbrock's rear car windshield, the person(s) behind the dirty deed attempted to equal things out with a good deed - leaving $200 in the back seat to pay for damages.

For the Video Report, click here.

Plus: Google Earth expands to Google Mars. WMDs still not found.

Middle Finger is Free Speech

One man's fight against the man has him defending the bird as a first amendment right, cuz George Washington dint sign the declaration of independence for me to lose my right to flip people off. I mean, what is this, Iraq or something?

For the video report, click here.

Music Mondays - Electric Six

I have never laughed so hard at a concert.

Saturday night Electric Six rolled into a sold-out show at the Independent in San Francisco to, in lead singer Dick Valentine’s words, “promote the sh-- out of the new record, ” Senor Smoke. In doing so, they cemented their role as the king in the admittedly narrow realm of intelligent rock comedy.

Full review after the jump.

Monday News Headlines

The weekend was busy in the news: life, death, law and disorder. Here's a few bits of news from the headlines -

• Tests Show Milosevic Took the Wrong Drugs Oh, and he's dead, BTW.
• McClatchy to Buy Knight Ridder for $4.5 Billion David Hasselhoff not part of deal.
• Dan Brown "astounded" at Copying Claim Says "Dude, I got this story from dead gnostics. Get a life."
• USAF Sued for Using Jesus To Recruit Allah files plagiarism suit; claims "We did it first." Unmentionable Jewish God files countersuit.

For the video report, click here.

Nigerian Gov't Warns People: Eclipse Not The End of The World

The last time a solar eclipse made its way through Nigeria, riots erupted, as some believed "evil people in their communities were responsible." This time, hoping to avert similar chaotic worries of impending doom, the Nigerian goverment issued an official statement. For the Video Report, click here.

Afraid of the Big "O"?

Parents of increasingly common tubby tots are not so willing to call them overweight (gasp!) a recent study has revealed. Whereas the profiles of kids are growing to "more to love," one man, who once needed the wall of his bedroom cut down to get him out, now has less to love.

For the video report, click here.

Study Reveals What We Already Know

A report released by the American Medical Association in time to give jaded coeds something to ponder over Ritalin & Redbull confirms that all guys need this spring at Club Med is a bottle of cheap tequila. And a camcorder.

For the Video Report, click here.

The Return of the Prosthetic Limb

Back on Valentine's Day, Melissa Huff's prosthetic leg was stolen for the second time. Last Friday, it was returned - for the second time. For the Video Report, click here.

Music Mondays - Matt Pond PA

About a month into the tour promoting the band's latest offering Several Arrows Later, Matt Pond PA rolled in to San Francisco last night for a gig at Slim's. A Sunday show, up against the Oscars, on one of the most drearily rainy days of the season. And Californians are notoriously fickle people. The slightest bit of inclement weather would've - should've - kept most people away. After all, it's just Matt Pond PA.
But I went to see 'em. The full review after the jump here.

China Is All Over That Spit

The 2008 Olympics are just around the corner, and China is ramping up the Insta-Image-Enhance-o-Matic to spruce up its slightly off-putting hygiene habits. Hence the above sign. Which is actually pretty good, considering. For the video report, click here.

Boy Gets Life Lesson in What to Make a Big Deal Out Of

So this kid gets busted for a typical kiddie prank with a fine, community service, and detention when he refuses to admit criminal intent. Ten years later, the victim files suit against a coworker for putting a post-it note with the words "kick me" on his back, claiming the message incited violence toward him.
For the video report, click here.

Oops. Are These Cameras Rolling?

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, leaving just remnants of cities that one stood proud. The fiasco that became the response left many angry & bitter, and thus began the Blame Game that has now focused on the President since a video was released showing him briefed about the catastrophe the day before. Click here for the proper news report from CNN after the ad. For the Video Report, click here.