I'VE HAD A SUPER GLUE ACCIDENT! everyone remain calm...

Fly naked on nudist holiday flight
Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:52am EST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.

Travel agency OssiUrlaub.de said it would start taking bookings from Friday for a trial nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing 499 euros ($735).

"It's expensive, I know," managing director Enrico Hess told Reuters by phone. "It's because the plane's very small. There's no real reason why a flight in which one flies naked should be more expensive than any other."

*I don't know if I agree with that. I think it should would depend on the physical appearance of the other passengers. I mean, a plane full of this:

should definitely have a different price point than a plane full of this:

The 55 passengers will have to remain clothed until they board, and dress before disembarking, said Hess. The crew will remain clothed throughout the flight for safety reasons.

*Thank heaven for that. Fifty-five naked German tourists is certainly more than enough nudity for anyone.

"I wish I could say we thought of it ourselves but the idea came from a customer," Hess told Reuters by phone. "It's an unusual gap in the market."

*...naw...too easy...

Naturism, or "free body culture" (FKK) as it is known in Germany, was banned by the Nazis but blossomed again after the Second World War, particularly in eastern Germany.

*So maybe the Nazis weren't all COMPLETELY nuts after all. Although, honestly, I imagine that a good many of those SS officers wouldn't have minded a bunch of blonde haired, blue eyed "perfect Aryans" running around in their birthday suits.

"There are FKK hotels where you can go into the restaurants and shops naked, for example," Hess said. "For FKK fans -- not that I'm one of them -- it's nothing unusual."

*So maybe this guy isn't COMPLETELY nuts after all, either.

"I don't want people to get the wrong idea. It's not that we're starting a swinger club in mid-air or something like that," he added. "We're a perfectly normal holiday company."

*Ummm...yeah...that's just what I was thinking. Well, that and no one would have to hog the bathroom to join the Mile High Club.



(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Paul Casciato, emphasis and commentary added by SMC)
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Today's Topic: Why is reality reversed in cartoons?

I think that, without much fear of contradiction, it is safe to say that most people are not crazy about mice living in their homes. Not only are they terribly unsanitary (did you know that mice, like flies, are constantly excreting waste of some sort of another as they traverse your castle?), but they're fast and noisy.

And yet, when watching Tom & Jerry, you want the mouse to outsmart the cat and escape.

Why is that?

And good old Popeye and Olive Oyl...why do we forgive her constant idiocy of going off with Bluto (or Bruno, depending on the age of the episode) because she momentarily finds him sexier, wittier and more interesting, and hold our breath until Popeye gets that can of spinach, kicks ass and rescues the girl? It certainly ain't because she's hot (the following picture, and updated "pretty Olive" notwithstanding) or puts out ("You keep your hands to you...that's what you are!")

But those are Olde Tyme toons. Let's check out one of them New Millennium toonz.

This little cutie is Pucca, a Japanese anime import who appears on Toon Disney...which automatically means that she's A-OK with parents and kiddies, right? I mean, who on Earth is more respectful of the value of wholesomeness and the delicate grip morality has on today's society than the good people of Disney???

So why are they masquerading a delusional psycho stalker chick as an adorable little girl with a major crush on Garu, a little ninja boy with a heart decorating his ninja jammies???

Here's what Pucca sees in her head:

Here's the reality:

Garu spends most episodes running away/hiding from Pucca when he isn't fighting the evil ninja guys. The girl terrifies him. And with good reason. She's EVERYWHERE! The only "benefit" is that when he is being threatened by any one of a number of ninja baddies, Pucca turns into some kind of crazed, psycho stalker one-girl hurricane of fighting fury. No one will EVER hurt Garu as long as Pucca lives and breathes. But does this endear her to him? No. It freaks him out. As well it should.

And yet, you want Garu to realize that Pucca is the cutest thing ever and that his life would be an endless rain of gumdrops and sunshine should he ever JUST STOP RUNNING!!!

Why is that???!!!

Do we allow our ordinary sense of "right" and "wrong" to evaporate when we turn on the Boob Tube? Are we (sans LSD) "turning on, tuning in, and dropping out"? Are we permitting ourselves to be lulled into a dreamy sense of acceptance via catchy (albeit nonsensical) pop tunes, bright primary colors and constant movement allowing for no time to THINK?

Perhaps this is all a plot to prepare us for the upcoming Presidential elections. I, for one, know I would pay a lot more attetion to the yadda yadda yadda if I were watching, say, hand puppets, instead of talking heads. Mayhaps that is what we have to look forward to in the upcoming weeks and months.

Sweet!

As they say...Stay Tooned...

YOU be the judge!!!

Okay, so I totally owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of updates on Me, Me and more Me (for some reason, I am an apparent source of good times and amusement to a slightly disturbing number of my friends, family and their extended networks...but we'll dwell on that another time...), but I PROMISED FRY my good buddy McSorely that I would absolutely, unquestionably, upon pain of a month of 6 am Cream of Wheat and Mayonnaise breakfasts with Nancy Grace that I would post this picture before I go to bed:


The guy on the left is the (in)famous John Scherer aka the Video Professor.

The guy on the right swears up, down and sideways that he is NOT the (in)famous John Scherer.

Ummm...doppelganger?

I mean COME ON!!! This guy looks more like the Video Professor than the Video Professor looks like the Video Professor!!!

McSorely nearly wet his pants when I told him that I was in the same room as the "I'm NOT the Video Professor" guy today, and demanded proof.

As much as I remain in doubt about how happy I am with my new Samsung SCH-u740 phone, I hereby formally retract any earlier statements I've ever made about how I have no need for a camera phone.

Happy 2008!

My wish for this year is that all the trials of sowing and tilling and tending that has been put in over the last few years bears fruit and brings everyone I know and love every happiness they deserve. (You guys know who you are!)

much mad love, Milk