Oldies: Sunday, October 5 - Saturday, October 11, 2003...

Thursday, 9 October 2003: I have known for years, as I'm sure many of you have known as well, that the movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (yes, the original release of the movie broke the word "chainsaw" into two words) is based loosely on a true story. Well, with a remake of the movie soon to be released and with Halloween also coming up soon, I decided to look into it a bit and see just what is truth and what is not.

So I did a search and came up with a bunch of sites about Ed Gein, a farmer from Wisconsin whose story, it turns out, inspired more than just Saw. Gein was raised by a domineering, Bible thumping mother who taught him that all women are evil. When she died, he left her body in her bedroom and nailed the door shut and he would fawn over her corpse and all kinds of other nasty stuff (a direct tie in to Hitchcock's Psycho). After her death, he started to do a lot of research into anatomy and became completely obsessed by it. He started digging up female corpses and cutting them up so he could view the "processes of life". Eventually, though, dead bodies weren't enough. So a couple of women from local towns soon wound up missing (one in 1954 and the other in 1957). After the second disappearance, police followed a tip that Gein was spotted outside her workplace and went to his house. They found the woman's body hanging upside down in an outdoors shed dressed out the way a hunter does a deer. The other woman was inside decapitated. Her head was in a plastic bag on the kitchen counter. Other things the police found included skulls on each of the four posts of his bed, a suit of female skin (Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs anyone?), a couch covered in skin, a belt made out of female nipples, a human heart in a saucepan on the stove, and the skin from a woman's abdomen rolled up on the floor. Oh yeah, power tools were involved so far as I can tell.

So, in conclusion... no, it was not a family of murderers. No, Leatherface (read: Ed Gein) was not some mentally retarded guy who relied 100% on chainsaws to do his dirty work. No, it did not happen in Texas. No, the "whirling dervish" scene from the movie did not really happen (but it's still pretty cool).

I sincerely hope nobody was just about to eat anything before reading this. If so, I apologize.

Wednesday, 8 October 2003: It feels like it has been too long, but it is time for another Darwinism Missed Me award...

...and there was much rejoicing...

Nina Tichelkamp-Russell of Kansas City, MO, is requesting that she receive compensation from Modine Manufacturing Co. because her 25-year-old son Jonathon Russell died while at the workplace. Normally, that would be pretty damned good reason to receive workman's comp, right?

Well, not so simple in this case.

Russell is the man responsible for the shooting deaths of three of his coworkers at the plant during the nighshift on July 1. He brought a semiautomatic handgun to work, shot three people dead, then killed himself, and now his mom wants workman's comp.

This woman not only deserves a Darwinism Missed Me award but I think I should also create a Brass Cojones award to go along with it because she's got a rock-solid set for making that request.

Tuesday, 7 October 2003: Men's Kindergarten. Yes, that may sound insulting, but get a load of this article I found from Reuters...

Men Get Own Kindergarten While Women Shop

BERLIN (Reuters) - German women fed up with their partners' grumbling on weekend shopping trips can now dump them at a special kindergarten for men offering beer and entertainment.
 
"The women are issued a receipt for their partners when they hand them in and can pick them up again when they return it to us later," Alexander Stein, manager of the 'Nox Bar' in the northern city of Hamburg told Reuters on Tuesday.

The men are given a name badge on arrival and for 10 euros ($11.80) they get two beers, a hot meal, televised football and games.

Stein said the idea for the Saturday afternoon men's creche, or "Maennergarten," came from a female customer who thought it would be a good way of getting shot of her husband so she could shop in peace.

"She found it all too stressful and thought this might be the solution. Both were very happy with the way it turned out.

"Last week the men had a remote control car to play with. Next week there's going to be a mini racetrack," said Stein.

They are also offering a drilling workshop.

"It beats sitting around in shoe shops, that's for sure," one man told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Where do I sign up?

This is just the epitome of cool. Send me to kindergarten, I don't care. Funny thing is, my wife would probably prefer to hang out in there with me.

Monday, 6 October 2003: This photoshopped image was sent to me by a coworker and I loved it so much that I just had to share it with all of you. And with the recall election occurring tomorrow, it is definitely timely.

Sunday, 5 October 2003: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Ohmigod the Cubs win!

Yes, folks, the Cubs have defied expectations by beating the Atlanta Braves in the fifth game of their NLDS. This rocks. This is just too damned cool for words.

Oh yeah, and the wait is over for Bears fans, too. After what looked to be another embarrassing loss with the Raiders leading 18-3, the Bears came back for their first win of the season 24-21. God it was amazing! I had so much fun watching that game. RDub is the man!

It's such a great day to be a fan of Chicago sports.

Sadly, though, my Minnesota Twins were bumped off by the Yankees. Not so good.

But, on another high note, the Florida Marlins won in dramatic fashion yesterday, bumping off the San Francisco Giants with Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez holding on to the ball for a final tag out of J.T. Snow at home complete with full-body collision. Coolness.

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Oldies: Sunday, September 28 - Saturday, October 4, 2003...

Oct 4
Saturday, 4 October 2003: I have updated the Kicker Zero page with Steve's stats from today's game against Adrian College. While I realize that the Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors ain't really doing so well (they are 1-3 overall), it is nice...
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Oldies: Sunday, October 12 - Saturday, October 18, 2003...

Oct 18
Friday, 17 October 2003: Well, I'm just batting 1.000, aren't I? Initially I wanted it to be the Cubs vs. Twins in the World Series. Twins got bumped off in the first round of the playoffs. So I started pulling...

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