Reuters Blogs

Left: Detroit Lions fan wears a turkey hat on his head before the start of the Thanksgiving Day NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Detroit, Michigan November 26, 2009.

Right: Green Bay Packers fan wears a cheese head hat with a fake turkey on top before the start of the game.

REUTERS photos by Rebecca Cook

Lower your expectations! Join the Oddly Enough blog network

Posted in Oddly Enough | 5 Comments »

November 26th, 2009

The very worst way to go?

Posted by: Robert Basler

Blog Guy, I heard on the news that some poor man died a fiendishly horrible death a couple of days ago over there in Spain. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Yes, and we have a photo from the unspeakably tragic scene. Some sensitive readers may wish to stop reading at this point.

Is it really true that the guy...

Yes, he was sucked into a huge cotton candy machine at a carnival, and there was no way to turn it off in time.

This once again focuses on the hideous danger of cotton candy machines, which kill about 40,000 people a year world-wide and pull off countless arms and legs, spinning and flossing them into a macabre "treat."

I had no idea...

Why do you think most cotton candy is the color it is? It doesn't start out that way, if you catch my drift. It's from the body parts that are in the mix.

Where do you think the phrase "pinky" comes from, and the expression "in the pink."

Blog Guy, I think this is more of your made-up horse poop.

You may be right. My fact-checker isn't working today, and I'm off to have some turkey.

Manuel Bandera performs during a rehearsal of the musical "Chicago" in Madrid November 19, 2009. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A child eats cotton candy during a temple fair in Beijing January 19, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Impress your friends! Join the Oddly Enough blog network

Posted in Oddly Enough | 5 Comments »

November 25th, 2009

Is that a gun in your pocket, or… Oh, it IS a gun!

Posted by: Robert Basler

It's that time of year again, when college seniors start asking me for career advice.

"Bob," writes one student at a northeastern college, "I picked up a glossy pamphlet on the exciting field of professional frisking.

"I'm good with my hands, so I thought this might be an option for me."

Well, I get this question a lot, and of course there is much to be said for this glamorous career. You do get to grope interesting people, and use phrases like "Spread 'em," "You know the drill," and "Up against the wall, pond-scum!"

Best of all it's mostly night work, which leaves your days free to do whatever it is you thought you were going to do with that Art History degree.

Top: A suspect is frisked by a policeman patrolling the slum district of Petare in Caracas, November 21, 2009.

Left: A 15-year-old girl is searched for weapons by a policewoman during a raid near a hospital at the slums of Petare in Caracas, November 22, 2009.

REUTERS photos by Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Posted in Oddly Enough | 12 Comments »

November 25th, 2009

Aren’t these elevators going awfully fast?

Posted by: Robert Basler

Hold it right there, Blog Guy! I'm calling you out on something! Yesterday, you had a supposed beauty pageant shot where the contestants were all standing in front of a faraway building. Was that the ONLY picture you had from that event?

No, of course not. In addition to the So Far Away They Look Like Ants photo, we did cover the other portions of that pageant. Have a look:

Contestants stand akimbo in a dimly-lit interrogation room
Contestant inspects empty office space
Contestants jammed into Over-Capacity Glass Elevators smile as they hurtle to certain death

There, does that answer your concerns?

No, I'm also concerned you used the word akimbo in a blog where we're never supposed to learn anything.

Well then, whatever you do, don't click on it.

Miss Sevilla slideshow

Top left: Contestants of the Miss Sevilla pageant wearing traditional Sevillana dresses wait backstage before a presentation in Seville, Spain, November 24, 2009.

Top right: A contestant of the Miss Sevilla pageant wearing a traditional Sevillana dress walks during a presentation.

Contestants of the Miss Sevilla pageant wearing traditional Sevillana dresses stand in elevators during a presentation.

REUTERS photos by Marcelo del Pozo

Posted in Oddly Enough | 17 Comments »

November 24th, 2009

Way down upon the Swanie River

Posted by: Robert Basler

Blog Guy, you seem to know a lot about nature. Can swans fly?

No. They can neither fly nor swim.

What? Hold on, I've SEEN swans swimming in lakes and rivers and stuff!

No, you've seen swans, which have very long legs, PRETENDING to swim. Mostly, though, they prefer to travel by boat.

Is that right? And where are they going in these photos?

Well, first they're going to the doctor, and then for a treat they're going to the ballet.

Which ballet?

"Swan Lake," of course.

Sigh. I know I'll regret asking this, but why are they going to the doctor?

Don't you read the papers? It's time for swan flu vaccinations

Blog Guy, that's moronic even by your standards.

Yeah, but I have tickets to a good show, so this will have to be my...

No! Don't say it!

Swan song...

Swan keeper Olaf Niess watches swans sitting in boats after he and council workers rounded up them from Hamburg's inner city lake Alster November 23, 2009. Every year the swans are collected from waterways around the northern German city of Hamburg and taken to winter quarters where they are fed and cared for until the spring. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

Posted in Oddly Enough | 6 Comments »

November 24th, 2009

Now he’s just pandering to the masses!

Posted by: Robert Basler

Quick quiz: The photo above shows...

a popular Village People tribute group
a Las Vegas City Council meeting
an actual Hubble Telescope photograph of heaven
a cheap, desperate, pathetic attempt to boost blog traffic by running a vulgar commercial event into the ground

Hey, congratulations to you readers who correctly identified the Vegas City Council!

Come back tomorrow for photos of a Las Vegas School Board meeting!

Above: Models wave after presenting creations at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York, November 19, 2009.

Below: Model Marisa Miller presents a creation during the fashion show.

REUTERS photos by Lucas Jackson

Posted in Oddly Enough | 13 Comments »

November 24th, 2009

Hey, look at the balconies on those chicks!

Posted by: Robert Basler

Blog Guy, I'm back again. It's me, the aspiring photojournalist you've been mentoring.

How do you keep finding me? I've had my death notice put in several newspapers!

DNA doesn't lie. Anyhow, I was assigned to shoot a beauty pageant in Spain, and I wanted you to critique my photo.

Hmmmm. The pageant was in Spain, but where were you?

Morocco. I used a very long lens.

Here's a tip. It works better if you're in the same country as the contestants. All I see here is a building with some balconies, with shrubbery on the ground floor.

Those are the women! In swimsuits. Between the shrubs.

Let me ask a question. Why didn't you get back even further away from the women?

Because then I would have been in Algeria. That would be stupid!

Contestants in the Miss Sevilla pageant pose during a presentation in the Andalusian capital of Seville November 17, 2009. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

Posted in Oddly Enough | 6 Comments »

November 23rd, 2009

I can never play soccer again!

Posted by: Robert Basler

Blog Guy, I know all contact sports have risks. Boxing, football, fencing, they can all take their toll. Is there any threat that is especially common to soccer players?

Absolutely. There is the tragedy of soccer blindness, as seen here in these terrifying photos. It afflicts hundreds of players every year, usually during an actual game.

Is it curable?

Yes, the player's sight usually returns after someone leads him to the shower.

Blog Guy, I don't want to second-guess your obvious expertise here, but it just looks like this guy's shirt rode up on his face, and covered his eyes. I mean, it looks that simple.

You know nothing about it. For instance, in addition to loss of sight, the player in these photos complained of lack of smell and an "unusual tightness" across his cheeks.

He also suffered arm and wrist injuries trying to get into the locker room.

I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Are they researching this cursed condition?

Yes, and I'm sure they'll set up a charity soon. Please give generously. This athlete has suffered enough.

Getafe's Francisco Javier Casquero celebrates a goal against Espanyol during their Spanish first division soccer match at Cornella-El Prat stadium, near Barcelona, November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea

Posted in Oddly Enough | 12 Comments »

November 23rd, 2009

Smarty-pants style tips, accessories included…

Posted by: Robert Basler

Readers know that while I often blog about stupid fashions, all I want to do is laugh at them. If you actually come here to LEARN something about fashion, boy are you in the wrong place.

Where you should probably be instead is at "Daddy Likey," by a blogger named Winona Dimeo-Ediger, who is informative AND cracks me up.

You have to admire a fashion author/blogger who says, "My life's dream is to be a train conductor. Mostly for the hat."

Now, in addition to Winona's blog you can buy her new brand-new book, "Closet Confidential." It's very funny and offers all you need to know if you want to dress like a chick, or even if, like me, you don't,

I sent Winona a couple of genuine fashion photos, below, as sort of a test of her taste, and here is her response:

Left: Designers this season warned models to stay home if they showed symptoms of the H1N1 virus, but apparently the Black Death is not a problem.

Right: Kathie Lee Gifford's new collection for Wal-Mart, Sassy Arabian Pocahontas Sportswear, has been called "a bit muddled" by the fashion press...

Interestingly enough, it turns out Winona herself owns the exact outfit on the right, and often wears it for days at a time. I guess nobody's perfect.

Left: Model presents a creation by British designer Vivienne Westwood at the Fashionable Istanbul show in Istanbul, October 25, 2009. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Right: Model presents a creation by Ukrainian designer Natali Bolgar during Moscow Fashion Week, October 25, 2009. REUTERS/ Alexander Natruskin