Interesting, Ridiculous, and Appalling

One thing about being a Twitter addict and having the feeds of numerous news organizations going directly to your iPhone text inbox is that you are always constantly reading articles throughout the day. As one of these addicts myself, I have my face glued to my phone much more than I should. Usually I will breeze through an article and move on. Sometimes, if I find an article particularly interesting, ridiculous, or appalling, I will pass it along through my own Twitter account. Well wouldn’t you know it? Today I set a record and tweeted out three news articles, one that represents each criterion I just mentioned. For tonight’s post I would simply like to share each article with you and add a little bit of my terrible commentary.

Interesting -

Man walks into bar with zebra and parrot

There is something that interests me about people who keep exotic animals. I find it a little fascinating the attitudes that some of these people have that tells them it is okay to take a creature outside of its natural and geographical habitat and raise it inside their humble home.

If this is not bad enough already, many of these exotic animal owners just don’t want these creatures for their own private enjoyment, they want to exploit them and draw attention just not to the animal but to themselves as well. Many people will accomplish this goal by taking the animal to a parking lot, the Las Vegas strip, an outdoor festival, or….in this case….a bar??

Some guy, who looks half dead by his mug shot, put his pet ZEBRA in the cab of his pickup truck and his pet parrot on his shoulder and drove to a bar. The freak show gets out of the pickup and walks into the bar and the bartender tells them to leave…YOU THINK?!?! The rejected trio gets back in the vehicle and by the time they are all settled in the cops show up and arrest the guy for OWI (Operating While Intoxicated). Who would ever bring any type of pet into a bar, let alone a ZEBRA?! Very interesting for sure.

Ridiculous -

Jose Canseco Interview

Jose Canseco is a nut. If you follow his Twitter account (@JoseCanseco) you would be more than surprised to hear some of the outlandish, self-serving, uncensored “gems” that he pounds out. Spelling errors, exaggerations, threats, innuendo, and curse words make up the gist of his account. He for no reason at all implied that Al Gore had died. He claimed he could hit a golf ball 380 yards. He said that global warming could have saved the Titanic. The sad part? His Twitter account only describes about half of how psychotic he actually is.

Bryan Curtis from ESPN.com interviewed Canseco over the course of a night and the things that the former major league player said and did provided for one very ridiculous column. Curtis portrays Canseco as an easily distracted person, an aloof teammate, and an egotistical maniac. In the interview Canseco ridicules Curtis, talks politics, defends Mark McGuire, touches on his mission to be a write-in selection to this year’s all-star team, disses Greg Maddux, and talks about being the phantom of baseball.

When Curtis asks Canseco how he wants to die, he responds, “Hopefully having sex in bed.” Go on, give the article a read.

Appalling -

Students disciplined for senior prank

UPDATE: Please read the comments from the Sandpoint students at the conclusion of this post. I must be fair in this blog and give them their chance to respond. It seems as if the facts were exaggerated a little bit. I will keep what I initally wrote below as a testament to my ignorance of not knowing the whole story.

The Spokesman-Review reported on a senior “prank” carried out by the Sandpoint High School Class of 2012. I put quotes around prank because it really was not a prank at all…it was just destruction.

Twenty-nine of the seniors broke into the school late at night with a key they stole from a school counselor and wreaked havoc. The students wrote on doors and windows, put Vaseline on the door knobs, and urinated in the hallways.

I am all for a good senior prank but I appreciate one that is funny and clever.  Vandalism is vandalism and totally misses the mark of pulling off something memorable that people will be able to look back on and laugh about years down the road. Way to tarnish any respect or fondness that your class will ever have at that school.

Perhaps the most appalling part of this whole ordeal is that the students who participated in this goat rope still get to walk in the graduation ceremony. The violators will have to perform fifteen hours of public service, pay back the $1,000 in damages they caused, and help set up/tear down for the graduation ceremony. Talk about getting off easy.

--------

Nothing ever ceases to amaze me. We live in a crazy world where thousands of crazy things occur each and every day. Thank God for Twitter. Don’t Blink.