Get Cynical

From BBC News:

The BBC has seen the birth certificate of South African athlete Caster Semenya, which states that the new 800m world champion is female.

Ms Semanya, 18, has been told to take a gender test after several remarkable improvements in recent performances.

The case has provoked an angry reaction in South Africa, where many have said she has been unfairly treated.

A South African official said Ms Semenya almost snubbed her gold medal ceremony because of the test.

Uh huh. But why haven’t they released her long form birth certificate…..

From Blogjam:

For those who don’t know, the scotch egg was indeed invented in Scotland, where hard-boiled eggs are often wrapped in a layer of sausage meet (possibly to protect them from the cold weather), then dipped in breadcrumbs before being deep fried. While this may sound unappetising, any seasoned scotch egg fanatic will gladly attest that this strange hybrid is one of nature’s most delicious picnic staples.

First, the egg. I managed to procure one from Gamston Wood Ostriches, a Nottinghamshire-based ostrich breeding center. The ostrich hen can lay as few as ten eggs per year, so they’re quite expensive (mine cost £10), but in terms of bangs-per-buck they’re pretty impressive, as you can see from the image below.

(via PoeTV)

Is anybody not on vacation this week or should I just skip blogging for the rest of August?

Alex Pardee: To clarify the “incident” at my Seattle signing. (A bit bloody so avoid if you’re squeamish)

As with every other person that stood in line, I put my right hand out and said “It’s nice to meet you, thanks for coming out, what’s your name?” Lurch said nothing, but shook my hand limply while his grin, though now weakened, was still twisted across his face like a hand-drawn roadmap. I let go of his hand, and in true street-mime form, he produced a dirty, 3-inch razor blade from his left hand and showed it to me as the lights from the gallery caught the one spot on it that wasn’t filthy. It sparkled for an instant, mimicking every cheesy Photoshop lens flare. I glanced to my left once again and still, Warhol was standing with the same anticipation as I was.
“Ok, I’m game,” I thought to myself, “you and this Warhol dude are going to show me a trick or something like some lame Criss Angel shit. Ok, cool.”
Unbeknownst to me, however, there was no trick. The exact words escape me because of what followed instantly after, but he said something along these lines in a mixture of both excited yet calming tones:

“I’ve been waiting to show you something amazing”.

(via Metafilter)

(via PoeTV)

From Wikipedia:

Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (pronounced [ˈalbɪn]) was a name intended for a Swedish child who was born in 1991.[1]

Parents Elisabeth Hallin and Lasse Diding had planned to never legally name their child as a protest[2] against the naming law of Sweden (Namnlag (1982:670)), which reads, “First names shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name.”

Because the parents failed to register a name by the boy’s fifth birthday, a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden, fined them 5,000 kronor (roughly €500/$600 US). Responding to the fine, the parents submitted the 43-character name in May 1996, claiming that it was “a pregnant, expressionistic development that we see as an artistic creation.” The parents suggested the name be understood in the spirit of ‘pataphysics. The court rejected the name and upheld the fine.

(via Best of Wikipedia)