Baby boasts well-formed third arm

A Chinese boy born with an amazingly well-formed third arm faces surgery to remove the spare appendage -- but doctors aren't sure which arm they should cut off. Personally, I think they should leave him be: He's bound to be 50 percent more efficient than your typical tot!

(Via Coast to Coast A.M.)

'My Friend Jim' video hits YouTube

It took a bit of prodding by friend of TDA Bill Wiest, but now our homegrown video for the timeless loser classic "My Friend Jim" is available to see (and more importantly share) on YouTube.

A little background: We shot the crazy thing in Stevens Point, Wis., and San Francisco. We spent our shoestring budget almost entirely on pizza and beer. Playing the title role of Jim is Bret Hagen, who slings guitar and sings like a banshee with me in the Electric Boogie Dawgz. (It's a little scary how naturally he took to the play actin' involved in recreating the role of a natural-born bum, I must admit.)

Anyway, if you've never seen the video, feel free to give it a gander -- hope it gives you a chuckle or three. And please send it to all your friends and rate it (especially if you think it's OK or better). I hear all the kids are doing it.

Ohio man patents cordless jump rope

Lester Clancy invented a cordless jump rope to aid the clumsy. The Mansfield, Ohio, man just received patent No. 7037243 for his gadget for the ungainly, which uses weighted handles to simulate that (patented) playground feel.

"If you are still jumping, you're still using your legs as well as your arms, and getting the cardiovascular workout. You just don't have to worry about tripping on the rope," Clancy told the Associated Press.

The Patently Silly website does its own riff on the bizarre invention: "Strawberry shortcake / Huckleberry pie / It's a patent on nothing, my, oh my!"

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some paperwork to file for my new wireless chicken wire. Cluck, cluck.

Rental car comes loaded -- with a snake

As I look forward to yet another summer on the road, I must admit to a bit of trepidation when I read the story of the Kentucky man who found a live, 2-foot-long ball python in his rental car.

Dan McBride, an assistant athletic director at Eastern Kentucky University, found the snake lying on the dashboard of his car and -- here's the really unbelievable part -- thought it was a rubber reptile left there as a joke. He even went so far as to pat the thing as he started to drive off. He got a shock when the snake lifted its head, according to the Associated Press report.

I'll bet. I've never noticed a drop-down for "with luxury snake" in the Priceline car-rental form, but you can bet I'll be keeping my eyes open in the future.

Ghost ship drifts into Barbados

A ghost ship, a phantom crew, a dying man's last letter, 11 petrified corpses -- what more do you need out of a gruesome news report? The Guardian has the whole, haunting story, and for once a tale of immigration gone horribly wrong does not mention the U.S.-Mexico border.

Watch Out For Those Washington Worms

Gardening is a big deal up here in the great Northwest, but for now on I'll be digging a little more carefully. I don't want to wake up some sleeping giant that will rip my ankles off. Holy "Dune", Batman!

Font problem solved lightning-fast

After my pleading post about identifying the font used for Bill's cafe logo, I did a Google search and stumbled upon MyFonts.com's WhatTheFont Forum. I posted my sad little query, and had an answer in, I don't know, maybe five minutes. I walked away from the PC and the answer was waiting when I got back, courtesy of philippe2.

What a great tool! Once again I'm humbled by the Awesome Power of the Internet. Thanks, philippe2, and thanks MyFonts.com.