BUT IS IT ART?

Apparently some folks can't quite tell the difference between what is intended as art and what is intended to hold up said art.

LEPERCHAUN IN MOBILE?

Is this a hoax? A hoax about a hoax? In today's fast-paced world of information, ideas, and images circulating around the world at the speed of light, I suppose anything is possible. Watch and decide for yourself (and thank Libby for finding this)

NOT TO BEAT THIS DEAD 666 HORSE TOO MUCH, BUT ...

This story was too good to pass up:

Paul Porter, a World War II buff from Manchester, N.H., says he has always equated his birthday, June 6, with D-Day. But this year was different. Mr. Porter, who is 6-foot-6, turned 66 yesterday — 6/6/06

Since Mr. Porter didn't spontaneously combust, fall down a flight of stairs, or otherwise perish in a freak accident yesterday, I think we can all breathe a little easier :-)

666

A quick follow-up to our discussion of the inauspicious nature of today's date: here's how some self-described Satanists are celebrating today.

ONE FOR THE WEEKEND

David Copperfield, eat your heart out (you're right; this has absolutely nothing to do with urban legends or this class).

Have a good weekend!

SNOPES.COM

In case some of you haven't had the pleasure of encountering the work of Barbara and David P. Mikkelson on snopes.com, I highly recommend taking a look. While it doesn't get everything right every time, this website is an indispensable place to look when you hear those stories that just don't sound right or receive the latest e-mail warning.

Happy reading!

Final Exam

Now that we've all finished our urban legends class, here are some quizzes if you want to test what you've learned.

Creation of a rumor...

This actually happened yesterday. I met a friend for dinner, we'll call her Betsy because that is her name. Betsy works on Capitol Hill yesterday, and was evacuated because of another airspace violation. She called her boyfriend to tell him that he wouldn't be able to reach her at her desk. He was out to lunch with a friend, and when he got the message, he yelled to the waitress, "we need our check right now! We're under attack!" I'm not kidding. This caused mild panic in the restaurant they were in, until boyfriend was able to contact Betsy.

The real punchline is that when Betsy was recalling the story to me at dinner last night, people overheard and thought we had been attacked and just hadn't heard about it. It's amazing how people will believe whatever they overhear.