in-freakin'-credible

South Carolina sheriff buys tank to conduct raids - Boing Boing

Too bad Bull Connor's not around to shake this guy's hand and borrow his toys.

"Words will never hurt me" -- suuuuuuure

Caught in the grips of linguistic paranoia - The Boston Globe

When I was a graduate student (in French), a nice young couple from my church asked if I would teach their toddler some French. Completely ignorant of SLA for children - in fact, pretty much completely ignorant of children, since I had no brothers or sisters and had never babysat -- I said sure.

They invited me over one afternoon to hang out with their little girl and see how we bonded. I was being trained in the only-use-the-target-language-in-the-classroom religion, but I knew she would need a hook to hang what I said to her on, so I opened up one of her picture books and pointed to a picture of a dog. "Un chien," I said, smiling.

She wasn't having any. "Dog!" she replied, because of course that was what the thing WAS. Four legs, long ears, wet nose, wagging tail equaled Dog for her and nothing else.

We went back and forth a little, with me trying to suggest that Long-Ears could also be called "un chien," and finally, exasperated with me, she slammed her fist down onto the open book and screamed, "DOG!!!!!!!!!"

People are funny that way about the language they speak. It's not only our identity that is bound up in our language, but our very universe. "The words we use are strong. They make reality," as Wang Chung said. If you come along and tell me that my reality is not your reality, or is not the only reality, or may not even BE reality, I'm very likely to sock you in the nose just as my young friend did with the book.

Of course, as a language professional, I'm absolutely committed to multilingualism. I also happen to think it's a lot of fun. But it's worth bearing in mind that more is at stake in America's linguistic naivete than identity.

Fwd: Animatronic zombie that rises out of your garden and chases people, dragging its entrails

The Fright Catalog's Dead Fred runs on two 12V battery and sports four separate motors that allow it to sense passers-by, rise up out of the earth and chase them, howling and growling and dragging its entrails behind it. It's $2650, so it's a little pricey for Hallowe'en, but that sum does compare favorably with the total cost of ownership for a pet dog or cat, so when the kids start complaining that they need a companion who'll follow them around and do tricks, this might be a good choice. Dead Fred Zombie Chaser (via DVice)

 

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Coffee Chain Drops 20-Ounce Drinks

<p>A Chicago-based coffee chain called Intelligentsia is doing away with 20-ounce coffee drinks. The company's Chief Executive Doug Zell tells the <em>Chicago Tribune</em>, "Drinking our coffee is not like drinking jug wine."</p><p><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92398779#email">&raquo; E-Mail This</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D92398779">&raquo; Add to Del.icio.us</a></p>

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92398779&ft=1&f=3

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In search of the penis thieves

Several months ago, I posted about the capture of 13 "penis thieves" in the Congo who allegedly stole, or shrank, their victims' members. In the June issue of Harper's Magazine, Frank Bures tells of his travels to Africa in search of the penis thieves. During his quest, he riffs on the idea of "culture-bound syndromes" and "the interplay among culture, mind, and disease." From Harper's Magazine: Wasiu, Bad Teeth told me, had gotten on the bus and sat down next to this woman. He didn't have a watch, so he asked her what time it was. She didn't know. Then the conductor came around and asked her for her fare. She didn't have that either. As she stood up to get out of the bus, she bumped into Wasiu.

"Then," he said, "Wasiu Karimu felt something happen in his body. Something not right. And he checked and his thing was gone."

"Was it gone," I asked, "or was it shrinking?"

"Shrinking! Shrinking! It was getting smaller."

And as he felt his penis shrink, Wasiu Karimu screamed and demanded the woman put his penis back. The conductor told them both to get off the bus, and a crowd closed in on the accused, not doubting for an instant that the woman could do such a thing. But as soon as she saw trouble coming, Bad Teeth said, she replaced Wasiu's manhood, so when the police took him down to the station, they thought he was lying and arrested him instead. Penis thieves (Harper's Magazine, thanks Vann Hall!)

Previously on BB:
• Accused penis thieves captured

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/332180791/in-search-of-the-pen.html

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Building festooned with inflatable tentacles

DeviantArt's FilthyLuker produced this fantastic be-tentacled building installation somewhere in France with collaborator Pedro Estrellas. FilthyLuker's terse description: "Octo-pied Building: a house with tentacular cancer." Link (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/330919582/building-festooned-w.html

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Fwd: Lawn zombie sculpture

Begin forwarded message:

Date: July 8, 2008 8:52:30 AM CDT

Subject: Lawn zombie sculpture

Source: Boing Boing

Author: Cory Doctorow

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our John's dug up this magnificent zombie lawn-sculpture by Alan Dickenson, available for a mere $90 -- think of the savings you'll realize by no longer having to pay someone to keep the kids off your lawn! Link, Discuss on Boing Boing Gadgets
 

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