Wow those spammers sure are creative. Imagine if they harnessed all that creative force for good. If you could get these guys to work on the side of your favorite charity–and kept reminding them how to follow the law of course–your charity would be set for a lifetime.

Got a new one today that stood out from the crowd and I thought I’d share it. This guy is using war, car bombs, Saddam, Obama, and the US Military with a fake link to a BBC article tossed in to add some legitimacy:

Subject: from scott in baghdad
Sgt. Scott J. Wright [scottjonwright@XXX.com]

Hello dear,

It seems our mission here in Baghdad will soon come to an end, following some regulations issued from the pentagon.I have a need of contacting someone I can trust before I return. My name is Scott, florida native and I am serving in the marines with the 1st Armored Division in Iraq , as you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs. We managed to move part of funds recovered from Saddam Hussein’s family in Trikit in 2003.We have been keeping custody of a trunk with total amount of US$7.1 Million dollars in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills,this money has been kept somewhere outside Baghdad for some time but with the proposed troop in increase by president Barrack Obama, to end the suicide bombing and make peace with Iraq militant and terrorist ,we are afraid that the money may be discovered hence we want to move this money to you for safekeeping back home pending the completion of our assignment here, because some have been discovered and the involved offic!
ers are been querried immediately

Write to my private: myredeemerXX@XXX.com

READ THIS WEBSITE VERY WELL AND GET BACK TO ME http://news.bbc.co.uk/X/XX/middle_east/XXXXXXX.XXX

Regards ,

Sgt. Scott J.Wright

Well Sgt. Wright I think I’ll pass. But thanks for thinking of me.

Photo credits: Spam cans – Vilseskogen and Combat boots – D Sharon Pruitt

This is one of my all time favorite short films. It’s directed and animated by Arthur Metcalf. I saw it a couple of years ago at a film festival and has stuck with me ever since. Enjoy the awesome Fantaisie In Bubblewrap and be prepared to be horrified as you laugh until your sides hurt.

I’m in love with a movie theater. It’s true. My first real memory of The Charles was long before it became the multi-screen theater it is today.

One summer day in the early 80′s my brother, one of my best friends Brendan, and I walked down from Charles Village and bought tickets to see The Exorcist. It all felt like a huge adventure. I remember there being lots of  laughter and silliness on the way.  I don’t know how old I was, but none of us was old enough to be seeing an R rated movie that much I know. I was in middle school perhaps, 7th grade possibly. But being a voracious reader I had picked up a copy of the book at the second hand store and devoured it.  I was now determined to see the movie.

Back then The Charles was a revival house theater bringing back older films to the big screen.  I remember the seats in the big theater being a plush red velvet material and they had the springy seats that closed up when someone wasn’t sitting in them. I recall almost leaping out of mine when at a particularly scary moment in the film Brendan reached over and squeezed my knee, whispering “Boo!.” I was enthralled with the theater, the movie, and the entire experience.

The Charles  has always remained my favorite place to see a movie over the years.  I enjoy watching a film in any of the newer stadium seating screening rooms, but am secretly thrilled when the movie I am going to see turns out to be in the big old theater. I of course appreciate the beauty of the recently auctioned off Senator and I think back nostalgically and fondly on the long gone Boulevard on Greenmount (saw many a Disney flick and RoboCop there) and The Playhouse on 25th (I remember sneaking in to see a James Bond movie there). All fine theaters. But no other movie theater has ever been able to hold a candle for me to The Charles. Whenever I walk through the doors I just feel home.

I am so relieved that the 1999 transformation of The Charles into a multi-screen breathed new life into the awesome theater. In fact I think it deserves a good chunk of the credit for turning the seen-better-days surrounding neighborhood into the happening hot spot it is now becoming. Theater patrons need places to eat and have drinks and the surrounding businesses are starting to flourish.

The building is still beautiful, the staff is still just the right mix of smart arty and friendly, and the mix of film choices rivaled is by none. You can catch a revival, scope out a new indy, or catch one of mainstreams best all in the same place.  Plus you can make a night of it without even leaving the block.  Grab a glass of the best sangria in Baltimore and some happy tummy nibbles at the attached Tapas Teatro . Or pop across the street to the unbeatable Club Charles for a couple of drinks and atmosphere that oozes out of the walls.  On your way to your movie you can even stop and grab a delicious made-hot-while-you-watch-and-wait crepe to take with you from Sofi’s Crepes. Venture up to the next block and there are places to grab coffee or listen to live music.

Yes indeed, it’s true. I am in love with The Charles.

[Click on photos for larger versions.]

I love it when the moon pops out unexpectedly during the day or early in the evening before the sun has set.  It always looks somehow a bit alien and wonderful at the same time.  I ran across these two photos in my archive and thought I would share them.

[Click on photos for larger versions.]

This has got to be one of the strangest vintage educational films I have ever laid eyes on.  It features monkey children on bikes, quite a bit of carnage, a little girl..um monkey…with Road Rage, and even a little dose of fat bashing. I, of course, had to share it.

Sit back and enjoy “One Got Fat” circa 1963. Then prepare for the inevitable nightmares tonight. (Oh and what is up with that sick sick child Orv who eats all his dead friend’s lunches?)

Narrated by Edward Everett Horton. Script and Direction: Dale Jennings. Photography: Max Hutto. Art Direction: Ralph Hulett. With Dick Hutto, Janice Powell, Lucie Hagens, Ralph Hulett, Clyde L. Johnson, Dave Hembree, Colleen Hutto, Charles Hagens, Kevin Lindsay, Dan Whitehead, Don Moody, Diane Chambers, Shirley Hulett.