Winter Beauty in Vermont

As always, I have my trusty Canon Rebel camera with me in case something pretty unfolds in front of my face.

Skaters on a ice track carved into the snow on Lake Champlain
in North Hero, Vermont. That's Mount Mansfield in the distance

For some reason, winter isn't as great in my mind for photography as other seasons, but there's still a lot of beauty.

Last Sunday. a perfect Vermont February day, I stopped by a speedskating race on the frozen surface of Lake Champlain in North Hero, Vermont.

This evening, on the hill behind my house in St. Albans, Vermont, a lovely sunset help highlight the frozen Lake Champlain. If you click on the photos to make them bigger, you can just make out a pattern of little snow dunes on the ice covering the distant lake.

The little snow dunes make it look like the wind is stirring up waves, but the waves are completely still, that is until the spring thaw arrives.

Sunset as viewed from a hill in St. Albans, Vermont this evening.
That's Lake Champlain in front of the mountains.   

Another view of this evening's sunset
from a hill in St. Albans, Vermont.

Skin Care Product Advertising Totally Freaks Out Innocent People in Airport

So you're sitting in the departure lounge at the airport, waiting for your flight, minding your own business and somebody sits down near you with a newspaper. On the front page of the paper is news of a criminal on the lam. The picture on the accompanying story shows you.

You look up at the TV. CNN or something like that is on. It's showing breaking news of a wanted criminal the police are looking for. The criminal is described as dangerous and unpredictable.

Then the public address system comes on in the airport. Same news. They're looking for a dangerous person and they describe you. Everybody in the terminal turns to nervously look at you. Should they apprehend you? Call the police? What should you do?

All this happened recently in Germany, when nice normal people suddenly found themselves at the center of a manhunt.

This perfectly normal woman, with no criminal
record, suddenly finds herself the subject of a
massive criminal manhunt

Turns out it was a prank from the German skin care company Nivea, to demonstrate how their deodorant protects you in even the most stressful situation.

I don't know. Isn't this taking things too far? Nivea said the people they targeted signed all the necessary releases for the ads and things worked out well and amicable.

But what if there were somebody in the airport that didn't get the joke?  You get some yahoo who thinks he's a hero and whips out his gun and kills the "wanted criminal" that's all over the airport TVs and newspapers.

Or people, and there are some stupid ones out there,  later don't understand that you were the victim of a prank, and not a criminal. Will a few strange people forever think of you as someone who did something very, very wrong?

Or am I just being too paranoid, with no sense of humor. Here's the Nivea ad with the "wanted criminals" in the video below. It's in German, but you can fully understand what's going on.

Fun Song, Music Video From Gossip: Band I Never Heard of But Should Have

I love stumbling on fun surprises while idly wandering around the Internet when I ought to be working.

And there it was, a song called "Get a Job" by the group Gossip, which I understand has been around for nearly 15 years but for some stupid reason I've never heard of.  (Hat tip to gay news blog JoeMyGod for making me notice this. Not sure why this was on that site, Joe does post music stuff occasionally, and hey, it was a great find.)

Lead singer Beth Ditto has an awesome voice.  I took the time to poke aroumd some of their recent music. (instead of working) and it has something of an 80s vibe to me, but I mean that in a great way. It's a very catchy tune.

They had something of a hit with a song called "Perfect World" last year, but again, I was too clueless to notice.

The video for "Get a Job," just released this week, is below. It's extremely fun, at least in my twisted mind, and maybe yours, and watching it sure beats getting a job. Here it is:

Guy Vying to Be World's Most Hated With His Creepy Website

I swear Craig Brittain is trying to become the most hated man in the world.

Craig Brittain, under fire for his
"revenge porn" site

He's doing it through his Web site, in which he collects nude or explicit pictures of women from around the Internet, mostly from women "sharing" with their boyfriends or spouses. He then posts then on line, with their identities, for laughs and giggles, apparently.

Somebody will find a way to get him in trouble at some point, and they're working on it. But so far the Web site continues apace. In a departure from my policy of putting in hyperlinks for sites to which I refer, I won't do it in this case. Why give the guy more page views? He doesn't deserve it, or the ad revenue it could bring.

According to the Colorado Springs Independent, the first news outlet I could find that reported on Brittain, so called "revenge porn" sites have always lurked on the Internet. People who were jilted take revenge by posting explicit images of their ex's on line.

Brittain says he's not doing anything wrong. Ugh. Here's what he says, according to the report from CBS Denver.

“I call it entertainment. We don’t want anyone shamed or hurt we just want the pictures there for entertainment purposes and business. I would say our business goal is to become big and profitable.”

Um, if an explicit photo of a woman appears on the site that she doesn't want anybody to see, and people see it, aren't you shaming or hurting someone?

Most online pornography I presume features people who consent to having their sexy images distributed. On Brittain's site, they don't.

 According to the Colorado Springs Independent, an attorney named Marc Randazza wants to take Brittain's site down. Randazza says he's fine with porn sites as long as the subjects are consenting adults. Randazza says he's defended many porn sites right to exists

But he's not fine with Brittain's site. Here's how the Colorado Springs Independent wrote about it:

(Brittain's site, ) and sites like it profit from, he argues, is the exploitation of a person who has taken a photo of themselves in a sexual manner, to be shared with the person or persons of their choice. They didn't take that picture for the entire world to see.

Making Brittain even creepier, if a woman wants her images removed from Brittain's web site, he'll do it, but for a steep fee.

Here's how CBS Denver describes what happens:

Many have begged Brittain to remove their photos, something he says can happen, for a price. A link on his site takes people to another site of a purported “Takedown Lawyer” named David Blade III. For a fee of $250, the purported lawyer would have people’s photos removed.

However Dr. Nicholas Weaver, a Ph.D. researcher in Network Security conducted a forensic computer analysis on emails from Craig Brittain and David Blade III. Weaver concluded that emails from David Blade III and from Craig Brittain were “likely sent not just from the same IP address but from the same computer.”

The conclusion that attorney “David Blade” and Craig Brittain were using the same computer and same IP address has prompted many of the women to accuse Brittain of engaging in extortion and impersonating a lawyer.

White argues that if Brittain is behind the takedown service, he might have committed wire fraud and interstate extortion, both federal felonies. Plus, by impersonating a lawyer, he might have also violated state statute.

I predict that Brittain's Web site will be taken down by someone, somehow, soon enough.

Exciting Church Used Snakes Until Tennessee Law Intervened

The Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name Church in Middlesboro, Kentucky  must have had the most exciting Sunday services in the country.

But that ended, at least for now, when Tennessee confiscated the poisonous snakes Pastor Jamie Coots was transporting across the state, according to an Associated Press story by Brett Barrouquere and Travis Loller.

Pastor Jamie Coots in action, in church,
with a rattlesnake.

Pastor Coots (great name!) wants the snakes back, but Tennessee authorities don't seem inclined to return them, since it's apparently illegal to transport poisonous reptiles across the state without some pretty extensive permits and safeguards.

Coots bought the snakes in Alabama, and was trying to get to Kentucky with them. He had to pass through Tennessee to get to Kentucky, and he thought it was legal to transport the snakes across Tennessee as long as he did it within 24 hours or less.

Not so, say Tennessee officials.

Coots says he uses the snakes in his church services, which is why I say his house of worship has got to be a very exciting place.

According  to the Associated Press article:

Coots says his need for the snakes is Biblical. Chapter 16 of the Gospel According to Mark states, in part: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Coots takes that verse at face value. "We literally believe they want us to take up snakes," Coots told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We've been serpent handling for the past 20 or 21 years."

I hope that church doesn't do everything literally, especially in the days leading up to Easter. Do even the most devoutly religious want to take part in The Last Supper and the Crucifixition?  The Resurrection would be interesting, though. And Christmas would be a hoot.

Coots is due in court in Knoxville, Tenn. on February 25. So it looks like this snakes/religion/church service kerfuffle won't be resolved anytime soon.

Chubbie Checker Sues Over the Chubbie Checker

Chubbie Checker, the iconic singer who gave us The Twist, is suing over a product called the Chubby Checker.

The Chubbie Checker (not the singer) is an app that supposedly helps people estimate a man's penis size.

Yes, there's an app for that, too! 

Chubby Checker objects to
the Chubber Checker.

Chubbie Checker, the singer, does not want his name associated with such an app, and is suing to have it stopped, or at least renamed

Checker (the singer) is suing Hewlett Packard and Palm Inc. over the issue in federal court.

Here's how TCPalm put it in their story, quoting from court documents:

"Defendants' use of the name 'Chubby Checker' in its app is likely to associate plaintiff's (trade) marks with the obscene, sexual connotation and images," the lawsuit claims, adding that the app is "blurring and tarnishing" the Chubby Checker trademark.

"Purchasers of 'The Chubby Checker' app and non-purchasing browsers of the associated Web page are being misled into believing that plaintiffs have endorsed defendant's app," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also notes: "Plaintiffs have received no compensation for the unauthorized us of the Chubby Checker name and trademark for 'The Chubby Checker' app."

According to TCPalm, the app has been available since November 13, 2010, and a whopping total of 84 people have downloaded it. So I guess not that many people are dying to figure out male strangers' um, dimensions.

Of course, now, we might end up with the "Streisand Effect" I referred to a little while ago, in which nobody pays attention to something a celebrity objects to until they make a big stink about it. Then that objectionable thing becomes all the rage.

Still, you can't blame Chubby Checker (the singer) for suing. I'm sure he will want to always be associated with "The Twist" and not somebody's large or small dick.

Coke (a Cola) Addict Dies of Overdose

Here's a story that worried me, since I'm a confirmed Diet Coke addict.

A coronor has ruled that a New Zealand woman has died because of a Coke addiction. Not a coke, as in cocaine addiction, that happens all the time. No, it was Coca-Cola that did her in.

Natasha Harris of New Zealand died of a Coke overdose.
A Coca-Cola overdose, to be precise

Apparently, she drank Coca Cola from the moment she got up in the morning until the moment she went to bed in the evening. It amounted to two liters of the stuff a day. 

Now that the woman has unfortunately passed, I wonder if Coca-Cola has noticed a corresponding sales decrease.

(Excuse me, I have to reach wayyy over to get another sip of my Diet Coke. I'm now doing it in the style made famous last night by Marco Rubio. It's a good stretching exercise.)

OK, I'm back. When I first read the story, I worried that my Diet Coke addiction would kill me, just like it did that woman, Natasha Harris, 30,   in New Zealand.

Reading the fine print in the MSNBC story, though, it's clear that I won't die immediately from this. I certainly drink less than two liters of Diet Coke every day.  True, it's plain Diet Coke is bad for me and I'd be much better off just drinking water. And I'm trying with varying degrees of success to cut back.

But, maybe this is just self-justification, my overall habits are better than the unfortunate woman in New Zealand. Apparently, she ate little food, other than the Coke, and smoked 30 cigarettes a day. Not a healthy regimen, if you ask me.

As for me, I love to eat. And a lot of it is nutritious food. (Friendly prodding from husband Jeff doesn't hurt in this regard) I haven't smoked a cigarette in a quarter century, since I was in my mid 20s. And I try to get a lot of exercise.

A major cause of Harris' death was probably low potassium in her system, created by all that Coke in coursing through her veins. The caffeine likely didn't help either. All this can cause heart function abnormalities, which can prove fatal, according to the coronor, as quoted in the MSNBC report.

As for the Coca Cola company, they say their product is safe, but do not that hugely excessive consumption of Coke, or water, or anything else for that matter, can be dangerous.

Stiill, the Coke death overdose news is slightly unnerving. Now that I've finished my latest Diet Coke,  I might hold off on getting another one for as long as possible.

OK, what did I do with that water bottle?