Beyond Beyond the Fringe category archive

Through a website, sacpickup.com, Barton charges men $225 for 15 hours of instruction in how to pick up women. After talking about the principles, he said, he takes two to six men into the field – the mall, coffee shops and bars – to put what they’ve learned into practice.

On April 11, Barton and his group were asked to leave Arden Fair when some women complained after being contacted by his students, said Steve Reed, chief of mall security.

“The line is crossed when there is a complaint,” Reed said.

This fellow went to the mall yesterday, not to pick up, but the get picked up by the cops as an act of civil disobedience.

Mall management played it smart; in the absence of any complaints, they ignored him.

Aside:

Words have meaning.

“Picking up” a woman is not the same as “meeting” one.

Don’t get me started on a skeevy business based on teaching manipulation.

Honestly, some people never listen, even when God speaks to them directly.

If God didn’t believe in medicine, he wouldn’t have given us doctors.

Stupid, dangerous teenager fantasies are not new.

Facebook provides a streamlined delivery system:

The death of a 15-year-old Maine girl allegedly killed in a bizarre kidnapping plot involving a fake Facebook profile has prompted some of her classmates to scale back their social media use — or ditch it altogether.

Nichole Cable was allegedly killed by an acquaintance who used a fake profile to lure her from her home, then kidnap her in hopes of becoming a hero when he miraculously “found” her, according to state police.

The story goes on to say that some teenagers in the community have “deactivated” their Zuckerborg accounts.

Purchasing preference. (Warning: Too many “horribles.” Not that they are unwarranted, just beat to death.)

There are four million stories in the naked city.

Oh, my.

Police in Prospect Heights, Illinois arrested a Milwaukee woman Thursday who allegedly pepper sprayed and robbed a 14-year-old boy who tried to hire her for sex. According to the Chicago Tribune, 22-year-old Dareka R. Brooks is set to be arraigned in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday on charges of armed robbery.

MarketWatch reports on the suffering of the wedding industrial complex.

Oh! the horror.

Even as the industry pushes couples to obsess over details, more vendors are charging for those heightened expectations. Prices often have a 20% to 25% “marriage markup” compared with the cost to, say, rent the same space for a Sweet 16 or to buy floral centerpieces for an anniversary party, says Alan Fields, co-author of “Bridal Bargains.” “It’s lose-lose,” he says. “The industry creates this bridezilla character and encourages that behavior, and then says they have to charge you for it.” In some cases, the fee is more explicit. Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis has a “bridezilla clause” in its contract, charging overly detail-oriented brides and grooms $5 per email or $12 per 15-minute increment of time required to respond, whichever is less.

Until I read this, I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as “wedding insurance.”

What a racket.

Video via io9. Story via Wait! Wait!

Via All Things Amazing, an amazing image site. Some images NSFW.

And here I always thought that term was reserved as playful slang for mobile hoagie vendors.

Amidst public fainting spells about the percentage of Wisconsinites (Wisconsians?) reputed to be binge drinkers, Jim Stingl offers a helpful diagnositic checklist. A nugget:

If you go to Miller Park and forget to walk into the stadium for the game, you might be a binge drinker.

If you look at a map of Wisconsin and think the Door County peninsula looks like a bottle opener, you might be a binge drinker.

If you find all the girls (or guys) really do get prettier at closing time, you might be a binge drinker.

All seriousness aside, as much as I like my tipple, I find the present glorifying of sports palace “tailgate” parties to be a bit outre.

The Streak is baaaaaccccck, spotted at a wedding this weekend.

___________________

*With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel.

Little green men freak school principal.

Grown-ups are stupid.

If you are depressed by the politicians in your state (I am constantly depressed by the lunacy here in the Regency), read Laurie’s list of the top ten kooks in the Arizona legislature.

There is no truth to the rumor that fashion designers hate women.

None whatsoever.

Jack may have been all work and no play, but Jill was all pay and no work.

The story has been unfolding for two years now.

It’s one of the strangest bureaucratic mix-ups you can ever read about.

Now a scapegoat has been found–not an entirely blameless scapegoat, but, as far as I can tell, a scapegoat nonetheless. The events involved too many persons and went on far too long to affix the blame on one person only.

I still have a nagging feeling that there’s more to be uncovered.

I crossed this bridge just last week.

When we were kids visiting our grandmother in South Carolina, the Gilmerton Bridge was a sign that we were almost home.

Its unusual design, high lift towers, and view of the harbor made crossing it almost a blast.

A construction crew demolishing part of the old bridge span as a new vertical-lift bridge is completed across South Military Highway found something irregular in concrete – old military ammunition.

Construction crews called 911 at 7:45 a.m. – morning rush hour – and the bridge that spans the Elizabeth River was sealed off to traffic until 3:45 p.m.

Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians responded to the scene and found three inert artillery shells about 15 inches long, said Capt. Scott Saunders, a Fire Department spokesman. . . . .

Almost a blast.

Always reliable. Reliable how, well, that’s another issue.

Let kavips explain.

The haves forever demonize the have-nots.