Hilarity Ensues

Boing-Boing pointed me to this story in USA Today about a three-year-old who went to extraordinary lengths to obtain a stuffed Sponge Bob Squarepants toy from a grabby machine, with somewhat predictable results. (Bonus points for the look on little Bobby's face as he is forced to extricate himself.)

Apparently this is not a unique occurrence. The various stories were all so similar, though, that I began to suspect Urban Legendry at work. I asked the Snopes-Dogg to check it out for me; but he says it's all legit.

I'd hope that store managers would start asking the grabby machine-guy to leave a spare key so that the local fire department wouldn't have to be called in every single time.

Just In Time For Halloween: The Monster Alphabet!

(Actually, this Flickr set was uploaded way back in August, but I just stumbled across it this week.)

I first encountered Ape Lad's work on the "700 Hoboes Project" but his "1 Hour Alphabets" (that's "B is for Blob" over to the left) are great! Check out the Superhero and Super-Villian alphabets, too!

Update: I've learned that the Monster Alphabet wasn't actually a one-hour alphabet. My mistake; I still think they're great. And look! T-SHIRTS!