Watermelon, anyone?

Mag and I have been watching the Antiques Roadshow for as long as it's been on (domestically, of course; like so many shows in the US these days the original was a British program[me]). One of the most memorable of the early ones I saw was a bit where a guy brought in a sword for appraisal that turned out to be from the Civil War. "Gosh golly," he said, or something like that, "I used to use that to cut watermelon when I was a kid." No fooling. It's now been a year since the appraiser, George Juno, was kicked off the AR for his role in this appraisal, which turned out to be a scam promulgated with his partner, a Russ Pritchard III. Basically, the sword was Pritchard's, and he got a huckster to bring in the sword for his buddy George to appraise. Only after the Boston Herald article I just linked was published (one year ago tomorrow) were the two dropped from the Roadshow. Now these two are being named in a criminal complaint alleging they defrauded a descendant of one of the best known Confederates in the War of Northern Aggression, General George Pickett (amazingly, this article doesn't even refer to the earlier brouhaha). George Pickett V won a civil lawsuit over the matter in 1999 to the tune of $800,000, which is roughly the amount he was defrauded.

Speaking of ancient history

More fun with Google: find your earliest evidence of residence on the internet. For me, it's almost definitely this message I posted to a debate listserv in October 1994.

Another fantastic link from PCJM: The Irish Curse Generator. For instance "May the malevolent hedgehogs gnaw at your manly part" is translated to "Go gcreime na gráinneoga cealgrúnacha do bhall fearga." Complete with phonetic pronunciation! A must. Not quite as good but still amusing is the automatic Dis generator available from the Spark. It delivers such tasteful insults as "My fairy godmother is coming to kick your jock.." All righty then.

Finally, an update on "plushies." A letter to Newza da Weird from a Plushy lover about how they've been defamed by the recent Vanity Fair article. Methinks he doth protest too much.