Break open the champagne, it's back

It's back:

The Edvard Munch paintings "The Scream" and "Madonna," which two armed robbers yanked from the wall of a museum here in August 2004, were recovered in relatively good condition during a police operation Thursday afternoon.

No arrests were made and the case remains far from solved, with the police saying little apart from confirming that the pictures were safe. But Norwegians rejoiced in the return of two of their most treasured artworks.

"We're open for champagne tonight to anyone who wants to come by and celebrate," said Knut Forsberg, chairman of Blomqvist Fine Arts, which served as Munch's main gallery while he lived.

A celebration is in order, but when it's done, it's time to do a major overhaul of something in Norway, such as buffing up museum security or stiffening the penalties for Scream stealing. As you probably know, the Scream has been stolen before. A different version (Munch created four) was stolen in 1994. Both thefts occurred during the Olympics. Unless the Norwegians want Scream stealing to become a regular Olympic sport, it's time to take some people out to the fjord, if you know what I mean.

On accidental juxtapositions

On my daily commute, when I do listen to the radio, I incessantly change the station to avoid commercials and Nickelback songs. Yesterday morning I heard this:

"I'm craving something maddeningly delicious."

/me changes station

"Blood!"

Warning: Stupid people at play

From the Louisville Courier-Journal via This is True:

The water in the fountains and pools in Louisville's Waterfront Park tested about 30 times the healthy limit for bacteria, which city officials blame on homeless people using them to bathe and dirty diapers. Frustrated by their inability to keep people out of the water, David Karem, executive director of the Waterfront Development Corp., had signs put up warning people to keep out due to "high levels of hydrogen". The bacteria has plummeted to safe levels so apparently the pools are healthy, but the state of American scientific education is not. A humorless editorial in the Courier-Journal attacked for "treat[ing] Louisvillians as fools" and suggested he should instead be "simply shooting straight about why waders should keep out." But asking nicely hasn't kept homeless people or crap laden diapers out of the pools. The homeless guy needs a bath, dammit, and in the absence of a solution to the crisis of homelessness, not to mention the problem of parents who let their kids use public pools for toilets, scaring the crap out of people appears to the only way to solve the immediate problem. Stupidity is usually something you can rely upon. After all, as H.L. Menken said, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."