Author: Joey deVilla

Click the photo to see the source.

It won’t improve your swing dancing, but it’ll do for going to a dance club where the music’s all OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ.

Click the photo to see it at full size.

Here’s a theme that the Future Missus vetoed on upon seeing it: the hunting camo-themed wedding, complete with the catchphrase “The hunt is OVER!”. I’m rather fond of the deer-head toothpicks and the beer cozy: the last thing I want at my wedding is goopy barbecue sauce-covered fingers (okay, maybe for the wedding night) and a warm Miller High Life.

If this sort of thing is your speed, point your browser to Oriental Trading and get them to send you a catalog, or search their site for “camo”.

If you’re paying at the gas pump in Tampa, be aware that advanced credit/debit card skimmers have been found on pumps at the following Shell/Circle K stations in South Tampa:

Unlike the skimmers that we’re often told to look out for — the type that are attached on top of an ATM’s or gas pump’s credit/debit card slot — these ones were installed internally, which eliminated most of the tell-tale signs of physical tampering and alteration. Whoever installed these skimmers used a master key to access the pumps’ internals and connect them directly to the pump’s computer. There’d be none of the usual warning signs, such as a dangling wire or damage around the slot where you’d insert your card. The one sign is a broken seal on the pump (see the photo at the top of this article for a photo of an intact seal).

Here’s the story on Tampa Bay Online.

If you’re paying at the pump in Tampa (or anywhere else, for that matter):

• Take a good look at the card reader and the seal. If either seem damaged, don’t pay at the pump.
• Favor using a credit card over a debit card. Credit cards leave a better paper trail, let you contest individual payments, and don’t give thieves access to your bank account.
• Try to use a pump that’s in line-of-sight of the attendant. Thieves are less likely to tamper with a pump in plain view of a gas station employee. Keep in mind that most gas station employees are just marking time until their break, so don’t count on their vigilance.
• If you want to play it really safe, pay inside the store…and with cash.

Recommended Reading

• Krebs on Security: All about skimmers
• About.com: How to avoid credit card skimmers
• HowStuffWorks: How does ATM skimming work?
• ABC News Tampa: Fight against credit card skimmers intensifies

Thanks to Sean Galbraith for the heads-up!

Im most places, “do not molest the alligators” is a self-evident thing, but this is Florida. I’m pretty sure that alligator molesters are a rare breed, as it’s a self-correcting problem.

Dr. Calvin Greene (artist’s conception above) of Calgary’s Regional Fertility Program — the only facility of its sort in the Calgary area — put the clinic in a storm of controversy over his refusal to help a woman become impregnated with sperm from a donor who didn’t share her skin color. He’s got a quote that pretty much has all the “tells” of the sort of person we’re dealing with:

“I’m not sure that we should be creating rainbow families just because some single woman decides that that’s what she wants. That’s her prerogative, but that’s not her prerogative in our clinic.”

In an interview with the Calgary Herald last week, Dr. Greene said last week that the policy against mixing races had been in effect since the 1980s and he believes it is better to raise children who resemble their parents, and if I’m parsing his statement above correctly, those parents should resemble each other.

The fertility clinic has countered by saying that they ended their policy waaaay back…oh, correction: make that a year ago. You know, in 2013, almost a half-century after the last laws against interracial marriage were struck down in the U.S..

As a healthy (indirect) product of a mixed-race marriage — my great-grandfather is James O’Hara from Dayton, Ohio — and being about to enter a mixed-race marriage myself, Dr. Greene’s views seem cartoonish, rooted in nonsense, and in complete opposition to what we know about the genetics of all sorts of creatures, including Man’s Best Fried:

I’ll close with this “Adam Ruins Everything” video, in which he explains why purebred dogs are the worst:

I like coffee, and I like potato chips, but I can’t imagine a combo of the two tasting very good.

I’m enjoying it here in Florida, and yes, when I think this, I hear Tom Hardy’s voice as Bane in my head:

Here’s the relevant clip from The Dark Knight Rises: