Katy Johnson
 

I guess that's how you could refer to his "Case Dismissed, Bitch!" thread.

Update on the Star Wars Kid
 

Sorry this is long, but I don't have a link to post to - a Canuck friend of mine just emailed me the text:

MONTREAL ? The parents of Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager who became a celebrity this spring after classmates posted on the Internet a video of him mimicking a Star Wars character, allege that their son was so humiliated by the experience that he had to get psychiatric care.

The revelation is made in a lawsuit his parents have filed
against the families of four classmates they accuse of maliciously turning their son into an object of mockery.
The video of Ghyslain, a portly 15-year-old pretending he
is wielding a double-bladed light sabre, has been downloaded millions of times from several Web sites, which dubbed him Star Wars Kid.

Many other pranksters have created their own versions of
the clip, with added video effects and sounds. One has him moving at fast-forward speed to goofy music from the Benny Hill Show. Other parodies were made with unflattering titles, such
as Dork Clones, or mixed in with sounds of flatulence.

In a statement of claim filed last week in their home town
of Trois-Rivières, the Razas say that Ghyslain was so widely mocked at his private high school that he dropped out. He had to finish the session at Pavillon Arc-en-ciel, a ward specializing in child psychiatry at the Trois-Rivières Regional Hospital
Centre. Ghyslain "will be under psychiatric care for an indefinite
amount of time," the statement of claim says.

"The stigma of mental illness can generate social
prejudices having severe consequences" on the young man, including making it more difficult for him to enroll in the school of his choice or get a job, or even forcing him to change
his name, the document added

"Ghyslain had to endure, and still endures today,
harassment and derision from his high-school mates and the public at large," it said.

The Razas are now seeking $225,000 in damages from the
parents of four teenagers: Michaël Caron, François Labarre, Jérôme Laflamme and Jean-Michel Rheault. They say the four stole the video from a school filing cabinet where Ghyslain had
stored a video camera he was using for a student project.

The lawsuit says the four young men then digitized the
video before sending it out on the Internet in April, with messages inviting people to make insulting remarks about it.

The statement of claim includes lengthy excerpts that it
says come from Internet chats in May between the pranksters. Complete with misspellings, bad grammar and cyber-style
acronyms, the exchanges are used in the statement of claim as evidence that the boys lacked remorse. They also brag in them that they evaded attempts by school officials to find the
culprits behind Ghyslain's misfortunes.

Ghyslain's parents and lawyers would not speak to
reporters yesterday. The parents of the defendants either did not answer calls or refused to comment because the dispute was before the courts. While the video of Ghyslain's antics generated some derisive Internet comments, others felt bad and started raising money for him. One group collected more than
$3,000 (U.S.), which they used to buy him an Apple iPod
portable music player.
In the excerpts from Internet chats filed in court, the
four appear to be plotting ways to get the gifts sent to another address so they can keep the iPod for themselves.

What is with flip flops?
 

OK, so I read this only because the flip flops caught my eye.
What women want

July 22 — The days when women were content with a magazine full of make-up, sex tips and a free pair of flip-flops are coming to an end, according to French and U.S. publishers, who have been witnessing a new breed of women’s glossy challenge the supremacy of Cosmo and its ilk. PSYCHOLOGIES MAGAZINE may sound like something you pick up in a doctor’s waiting room, but in France it is the second-highest selling title in the glossy market, above Elle and Cosmo, and second only to Marie-Claire. And it is on its way to the UK. Meanwhile, O, The Oprah Magazine, may seem a million miles away from a French psychology magazine, but the two have - in their own very French and American ways - tapped into a subject close to women’s hearts: well-being.

So I guess all we want is well-being.

QE
 

Hmm. I haven't seen any other episodes yet, and as I was completely horrified to be of the same gender as the bleach-job GF, it wouldn't seem fair yet for me to blame them for their abuse of her tacky heinousness. But if they are misogynist, I will hate them forever, and you can have Ted back.

I think you have a better chance with him anyway. ;)

Newsflash
 

Hey Paigow, if it makes you feel any better, there are some rants about umbrella toters in the Rants and Raves section of Craigs List for NYC today.

You are not alone.

(Sorry to hear about the break-up.)

Newsflash
 

Interesting. This has been my attitude as well, but people at the church I've been attending haven't taken it all that well.

Update on the Star Wars Kid
 

Apparently they had some massive administrative overhead. Either that, or Quebec has some wicked tariffs.

Taco Bell Gives You Gas!
 

Not a joke, Taco Bell is actually giving away gas, no bean burrito purchase required.

This is either a stroke of tounge-in-cheek genius, or final proof that marketing people are even dumber than celebrities.

Newsflash
 

We are going to take on the umbrella assholes, one post at a time. That person needs to hone her ranting skills though.

I had never been to that site so I wandered over to the DC page where I found this header for a post:

" Totally want to start a Jam Band or DMB cover band (Alexandria, D.C.) "

Totally!!! It would be, like so totally cool, if there was a Dave Matthews Cover Band here in DC!!! I would catch all the shows and sleep with the fake Dave Matthews guy!!! Maybe I will try out for it! Are there tamourines in his music?

Katy Johnson -- Radio Shack'in
 

I wonder what predicated the decision to withdraw the suit.

Took a minute or two and looked at the court papers. Some nasty fighting over diversity jurisdiction and whether the removal to S.D. Fla. was proper.

Also noticed that Ms. Johnson's counsel did a couple oopises. One was an apparent failure to have the temporary injunction extended; the second (a pick-nit) was the fact that Ms. Johnson's counsel didn't really know that crowns Ms. Johnson had won. In one filing, the attorney correctly noted that she was Ms. Vermont and Ms. Vermont USA. In another filing, the attorney wrote that she was Ms. Delaware and Ms. Delaware USA.

Oh well. Delaware. Vermont. Easily confused.

Newsflash
 

That's always been my attitude, to the consternation of the relatives and spouse, who question "how the kids can grow up to be good christians" if I don't indoctrinate them.

My response has always been, if it's all true, it'll be revealed to them independently, in a burning bush or a dream or . . . .. After all, a god's opinion of someone CAN'T be determined by who has the better indoctrinators, right?

Katy Johnson -- Radio Shack'in
 

Well, even Tucker pointed out that she really got around.

skeletor picture
 

You, me and Seinfeld. Excellent. Just stay away from the Black and White cookies.

and Salmon cakes.

Newsflash
 

For a while in the mid '90s, I fronted a Morrissey cover band. The self-loathing and sexual ambiguity was fun, but you get tired of not sleeping with the groupies day in and day out. After a while, every person that you don't sleep with becomes exactly like every other person you've not slept with. So we re-formed as a Kiss tribute band, and things got substantially better.

Katy Johnson -- Radio Shack'in
 

Lack of merit comes to mind.