Monday, February 12, 2007

Blame the victim

I don’t typically blog about such crap but I can’t help but imagine the ruckus if either of these guys was gay.

First up, the police officer who ejaculated on a motorist is found not guilty:

An 11 man, 1 woman jury in Orange County found Irvine police officer David Alex Park not guilty of three felony charges after he pulled over a female motorist (a dancer from Captain Cream Cabaret, identified as “Lucy” in court) and ejaculated on her sweater.

Four months earlier, Park had stopped Lucy under similar circumstances. That time, he’d ignored a plastic drug baggie he’d found in her car and her suspended license. But the stop wasn’t a waste of time. After friendly chit-chat, the officer had scored Lucy’s phone number. Telephone records show that Park called the stripper the next morning. She told him she was too busy to meet.

On the witness stand, Park explained that he’d called Lucy out of concern for a citizen’s safety.

Those male jurors probably blamed the woman. Just as in the case of the flight attendant accused of having sex in an aircraft toilet with actor Ralph Fiennes:

Other crew members claimed Lisa Robertson had a seven-mile-high fling in business class with The English Patient star.

But she insists he followed her into the small cubicle where, with the door locked, she repelled his advances. [...]

Mr Fiennes, who is dating Belfast-born interior designer Sirin Lewenden, was flying to India as a Unicef ambassador to promote awareness of HIV and safe sex at the time.

Sad.

Not straight

My friend John, a NYTimes crossword puzzle fan, emailed me this morning:

Today’s New York Times crossword puzzle has this clue and answer:

Clue:  Not straight

Answer: Gay

Elsewhere in the puzzle, another clue is also “Not straight” and the answer is “Bent” - same thing, if you know........

They’ve “gone gay all of a sudden!”

It wouldn’t be the first time. Check out the 2001 NYTimes homonames puzzle. More here.

TV on the Internet for real

From the duo that brought us Kazaa and Skype, coming soon, Joost. The story from Wired:

A flick of the cursor brings up a see-through virtual remote control with buttons for Play, Stop, Skip, and Reverse-plus something novel: a box labeled Search. An icon at screen left opens a translucent program guide that lists Indy Racing, Warner Music, National Geographic, and other attractions interlaced with personalized “smart channels.” How many? “Basically, it’s infinite,” Friis says. Another click opens a palette of widgets straight out of a late-model online social network: buddy list, IM, and options to “Rate It!” and “Share What I’m Watching!” Then up to the top for a window labeled Content Owner’s Area. “We’re still working on that.”

“Pretty cool, yes?” he asks.

Yes.

Somewhere between amazing greatness and raving geek fantasies of world domination lives the Venice Project-or Joost, as it is expected to be rechristened by the time you read this. Zennström and Friis have day jobs as Skype’s CEO and executive vice president of innovation, respectively. But in the cute way that Internet billionaires can do whatever the hell they want, they’re teeing up the mother of all side projects. “It’s really pretty simple,” Friis says, shifting into mantra mode. “We’ve taken the best things about television and added the best things from the Internet.”

Congratulations Dixie Chicks

5 Grammys:

The Dixie Chicks completed a defiant comeback on Sunday night, capturing five Grammy awards after being shunned by the country music establishment over the group’s anti-Bush comments leading up to the Iraq invasion.

The Texas trio won all the biggest categories, including record and song of the year for the no-regrets anthem “Not Ready to Make Nice.” They also won best country album, which was especially ironic considering they don’t consider themselves country artists anymore.

“I’m ready to make nice!” lead singer Natalie Maines exclaimed as the group accepted the album of the year award. “I think people are using their freedom of speech with all these awards. We get the message.”

Here’s Not Ready to Make Nice: