The actual caption for this photo tells us this dude is “posing” with a hyena. Now, in the city where I live, hyena-posing hasn’t really caught on yet, so I decided to look into this a bit more.

It turns out it’s not all that unusual to see street entertainers in Nigeria with “trained” hyenas. They travel to the places where they work in public taxis. I am not making that up.

“Eeeewwwwww, driver! What’s that smell? Was your last passenger a hyena, or what? Oh.”

Our lawyers asked me to make clear that this blog does not endorse random hyena-posing on city streets. If you DO run across a downtown hyena, here are some ice-breakers to say to the owner:

• “Hey Buddy! You gonna pick that up?”
  
• “Are you sure he can’t break that cardboard leash?’”
• “Awwww, look - he smells the fresh gazelle meat in my pocket!”
• “I’ll bet I can outrun him! Really!”

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A man poses with a hyena along a street in Lagos, November 4, 2008. REUTERS/ Akintunde Akinleye

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Memo to fashion show staff:

I blame only myself. Some of you TOLD me we should print out detailed dressing instructions, but I guess I just gave our models too much credit.

Now, you take that lovely dress with the dramatic flared high collar in back. Quite regal looking, when worn properly.

Unfortunately, Rita put it on backwards, which meant a) folks in the audience laughed until Pellegrino came out their nose, and b) tragically, Rita couldn’t see the end of the runway.

Okay, so we need to make sure this back-front confusion gets sorted out by this afternoon’s show, when all of our dresses are backless…

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A model presents a creation by Indra Miklava and Andris Stamguts during Riga Fashion Week November 3, 2008. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

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The holidays are upon us, for sure. Today, over in London, a bunch of actors dressed as Santa Claus, I’m guessing to stress the theme of peace on Earth and good will toward men. Or maybe they were reminding us to help others and be joyful…

Heck, I’m gonna deviate a bit and read the actual captions on these photos, rather than just guessing what they’re about.

I see. Turns out they were hired by London stores to promote spending.

Oh well, for those of you who forgot that Christmas is about taking your plastic into stores and coming out with STUFF, this is a useful reminder. Plus, I suppose they had to take a bold stand against the people who oppose shopping at this time of year.

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Actors dressed as Santa Claus pose for photographers during a photo call on Oxford Street to promote Christmas shopping in London, November 5, 2008. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

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