Oddly Enough Blog

Maybe the worst idea EVER?

People ask me where I get all the stupid stuff in this blog, and I have to say, honestly, the best of it is straight out of the news.

Here’s an example. According to an Associated Press story, officials in Georgia are considering saving money by putting prisoners in fire stations.

According to the story, the inmates would respond to all emergencies, including residential fires, alongside “traditional” firefighters.

I guess “traditional” in this sense means men and women who haven’t been convicted of a felony.

The story also says the “traditional” firefighters, who apparently don’t have enough to do in the middle of a roaring blaze, would be trained to guard the inmates working with them.

I am not making this up.

Let’s do something spontaneous, Baby!

Hey Blog Guy, how come you’re sitting in that huge tub of ice cubes up to your neck?

That’s my new “home.” I eat, sleep and blog here, under constant monitoring.

Um, that’s a little strange, Blog Guy. You want to explain what’s going on?

Sure. A coroner in Ireland has officially ruled that a man who burned to death in his home died as a result of spontaneous combustion. The coroner said it’s the first time in 25 years of investigating deaths that he has recorded such a verdict.

So you’re saying a human can actually just burst into flames?

Yes, unless they’re smart enough to sit in a tub of ice cubes night and day, as I’m doing.

There were no floats? I didn’t notice!

Okay, it seems a large fire swept through Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival center this week, “destroying thousands of costumes and floats and throwing preparations for Brazil’s annual festival of hedonism into chaos.”

I know this is a serious thing. They work pretty hard all year long on that stuff, and Carnival starts in three weeks.

But COSTUMES? Really?

We have hundreds of photos a year from Brazil’s Carnival, and I can’t use most of them here because I don’t have enough of those expensive protective rectangles to cover the stuff that needs covering to protect my readers. Now suddenly we’re acting like the wardrobe from “Cats” went up in flames?

I’m trying to imagine the emotional conversations with the samba dancers this week.