Charges Reduced for Woman Who Left Kids to Die in Car

Tarajee S. Maynor, the infamous mother who spent the day in a beauty salon while her two small children suffered and died inside a sweltering car in the parking lot has had her charges reduced from murder to felony manslaughter.

That really pisses me off. The maximum time she could do now is fifteen years. Think about this...while her kids were outside vomiting, suffocating, convulsing and finally dying, Miss Maynor was spending the afternoon in an air-conditioned salon getting a massage, trying on a sun dress, studying and having her hair done. Here's the kicker: she did, in fact, leave the salon at one point - to get a drink and snack for herself.

Her attorneys say she's on suicide watch and is wracked with guilt over what she's done but you have to wonder if she's upset because of what happened to her children or if she's merely anguished over the thought of her impending jail time.

I can't help but think that had the police believed her story about her being abducted and raped - she would be walking around guiltlessly without a care in the world. Perhaps the saddest part of this story is the fact that Maynor is currently pregnant with another child.

Sorry to bring down the normally light-spirited mood of this page, this is just something that really bothers me. I've heard I don't know how many cases of people leaving kids unattended in hot cars this year and it just seems incredible that anyone could be so completely ignorant and unthinking as to leave their kids unattended in a parking lot, regardless of the weather. Even if she didn't have the common sense to know it could kill them, wouldn't a normal, caring mother be worried her children could be kidnapped or something? It's just inexcusable and fifteen years (probably reduced to five or six, eventually) seems like a small price for her to pay for their senseless deaths.

(Update, July 15, 2002: I was just reading the news and found that Maynor abandoned a third child back in 2000, leaving her at Bethany Christian Services, a private adoption agency in Madison Heights, for 53 days. Once prosecuters get more documention of the matter, they may be able to use it in a new trial.)

Dog Poker

You've seen the painting with all the dogs gathered around the table playing poker a million times, right? Ever wonder what those canine gamblers were yacking about as they played? Wonder no more.

(Takes awhile to load up, but there's a decent little card game you can play while you wait, just don't crap out like I did and blow it all in the first minute or so. Oh yeah, contains offensive language, etc. - you've been warned).

More Ozzy-Themed Fun

While I'm posting Osbournes-related stuff, I may as well include this. It had to happen, sooner or later - The Ozzy Soundboard.

Sim Osbournes

This is just way cool...it's the Sim version of The Osbournes, a Flash spectacular from MTV's U.K. site.

Make Sharon throw a ham at the snotty rich boy neighbors. Watch Ozzy as he anguishes over the tv remote control, or make him rock out in an impromptu version of Paranoid. It's up to you.

Of course, the rest of the clan is there - even the dogs - and you'll recognize all the rooms of the house from the television show. There's also a lot of Osbournes info to read, with interviews, pics and video of the family.

Warning, unlike the MTV version of the show, the Sim Osbournes aren't censored (though their expletives are in soundless word balloons).

Sharrrrrronnnnn!!!!

Death Star Times

Here's one my friend Jordan passed along, a neat little Star Wars newspaper spoof.

He also turned me to to this site, Despair.com, which has some really funny things on there, I especially loved their inspirational (uninspirational?) posters, like this one:



Funny stuff.

Blade Runner, the Comic

One of my fave movies of all time is Blade Runner. This guy's posted the Marvel Comics version of the movie in it's entirety, in full-size page scans. Just thought it was worth mentioning to the comic lovers out there.

Think Today's Kid's Toys Are Offensive? Check This Out...

I'd totally forgotten about this old comic book ad. It's for a line of models done by the defunct toy company, Aurora. Wow, how sadistic are these toys? Full-on torture chamber accessories - we're talking hot coals and pokers, kids - complete with a mad scientist, a scantily-clad vampire chick and a "girl victim". No wonder my generation's so messed up.

Chalk It Up

Google! DayPop! This is my blogchalk: English, United States, Albertville, Alabama, NotJimmy, Male, 31-35!

No, I haven't gone insane, those words are intended more for Google's prying eyes than yours. Let me explain: that info is what you'll see if you mouse over the little green face in the corner I've added to my page, it's called Blogchalking.

You see, back in the good old days of hoboing, (if there were in fact ever "good old days" for itinerant homeless folks) hobos used a system of symbols they'd leave behind in the places they'd visited - there'd be a symbols denoting the fact that a certain house had a kind owner who'd likely feed you or that the town didn't allow alcohol, for instance - or that the man who lived there had a gun and would run you off if you came around looking for handouts.

Well, someone got the idea to use this sort of symbol system and apply it to free wireless networking and called it warchalking. The original idea being that you'd leave a symbol behind where you'd found a good wireless access point and could pass your knowledge of the node on to others easily. All this has in turn led to blogchalking, a means for other bloggers to easily find like-minded individuals from their area and look up their pages. So there you have it.

Welcome, Information Highway hobos...come in, sit down and stay awhile (but not too long...this ain't no hotel)

Pearls Before Swine

A nasty little Flash game in which you take pearls from your computer opponent's hand - however many you wish, from each row, in turns. The object is to keep from getting stuck picking the last one.

Stop, Thief!

It appears that starlings like shiny, pretty things - in this case, $4,000 dollar's worth of them.

Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine R.I.P.

Looks like the August issue of the magazine will be it's last. That really sucks, I always liked reading them. No word on whether this will affect their website, but I can only assume it's gone too.

You Sank My Battleship!

A really cool online version of the classic Battleship game, Battleship - General Quarters works the same way but prettier and with explosions. Too bad there's no two-player version yet, but other than that it's one of the more interesting Flash games I've played in awhile.

That Swingin' Spidey

In case the dancing Spiderman gif I posted didn't completely shatter your mental image of the web-slinging superhero, here's the overblown flash disco version, complete with crazy foreign disco music, the final nail in the coffin.

For The Alcoholic Chess Enthusiast Who Has Everything (But a Working Liver)

A shot glass chess set (yep, it's an actual product). After a round of this you may be loosened up enough to try out some chess variants, like the three-tiered Star Trek version or multiplayer chess. I think I'll send one of these sets to David Hasslehoff.

Comment: Speling is vary impotent!

Bush's Amazon wish list.

Painting Tolkien's Worlds

Large, hi-resolution galleries of artwork inspired by the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, including this Frank Frazetta piece (above, used for the movie poster of the 70's cartoon version of The Lord of the Rings), as well as Tolkien's own renderings of his fantastic visions.

New Zealand Man Strives for Air Guitar Championship Status

28 year old Tony Peneha's Jimi Hendrix routine has earned him the right to fly to Oulu, Finland for the Air Guitar World Championship (yes, there actually is such a thing - how about that?). There, he'll be cutting heads with air guitar luminaries from Austria and Australia for bragging rights and a guitar. It is presumed that Mel Bay will not be in attendance.

Hep Cat Jazz

Well, this one scores a ten on the "cute stuff" scale - it's the "Kitten Burger Electronic Latin Jazz Keyboard". Meow.

Happy Birthday, Ringo

Born Richard Starkey, the drummer turned 62 today.

Said Ringo, early in his career: "I figure we're good for another four years. I don't want to invest me money in stocks or anything. I just want to have it and draw twenty or thirty quid a week. The main thing is, I don't ever want to go back to work."

Here's 13 reasons to give Ringo some respect.

Drinking on the Job Gets Burglar Busted

A moronic burglar who robbed a church in Ohio made it exceptionally easy for the cops to find and arrest him - he left them a trail of empty Bud Light cans that led them right to his home.

I'm a Rocker, I'm a Roller, I'm an Out-of-Controller!

If you never saw the first Mad Max movie that line probably doesn't ring a bell. If, however, you did see it and have always wanted one of those boss cars they drove in the movie, such as the Nightrider's Pursuit Special or Max's own vehicle, these folks can hook you up.