Answers to Monday's multiple choice quiz

d) A dog with low-self esteem who'll do anything to make people happy



c) MizBubs' hand after cleaning and sorting an entire case of black raspberries



b) A closeup from a makeup test done by our eldest titled "But it's only when he's drinking."

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Now, unfortunately, some bad news.

Japanese popular culture provides me with a pretty good amount of entertainment, both of the intentional and unintentional variety. Over the past couple of years I've gotten some good stories from the Mainichi Daily News.

You can imagine my disappointment when, while preparing for this week's Weenie Waver Wednesday, I clicked on my bookmarked web link and found this:

The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. continued to post extremely inappropriate articles in the WaiWai column of the Mainichi Daily News (MDN), its English Web site. We have reported the results of an in-house investigation into the case on Pages 22 and 23 of the July 20 morning edition of the Mainichi Shimbun.

We continued to post articles that contained incorrect information about Japan and indecent sexual content. These articles, many of which were not checked, should not have been dispatched to Japan or the world. We apologize deeply for causing many people trouble and for betraying the public's trust in the Mainichi Shimbun.

"Incorrect information about Japan and indecent sexual content"? And the problem with that was...what, exactly? Oh well. You can read the whole apology here.

It will be a somber Tuesday here at the Compound.

Multiple choice

Pictured above is:

a) A space alien
b) A ferocious bog monster
c) A fruit bat
d) A dog with low-self esteem who'll do anything to make people happy



Pictured above is:

a) MizBubs' hand after a gardening accident
b) A film clip from a little known Giallo movie
c) MizBubs' hand after cleaning and sorting an entire case of black raspberries
d) MizBubs' hand after a makeup test by our eldest.



Pictured above is:

a) Our eldest after a rock climbing accident
b) A closeup from a makeup test done by our eldest titled "But it's only when he's drinking."
c) A photo I brought home from an old case file at work
d) A clip from the movie Truck Stop Women

Yes, we're ready

The question is, what are we ready for?

In the immediate sense, I'm ready for the next few days of firearm instructor school. I know, I know, it looks like I'm preparing for the impending zombie apocalypse, but that's just the stuff I need for school this week: a handgun, three magazines, a shotgun, cleaning kit (the Otis Elite, a present from my thoughtful bride) eye and ear protection, 300 rounds of 9mm handgun ammo and a few accessories. And really, how cool is it that there is a gun-cleaning system named after the town drunk on a 1960's TV show?

One of the things about this class is, I have to come up with a topic, prepare a lesson plan for it, and then do a 7 minute presentation. This is pretty basic instructor development stuff, and I've done this kind of thing before, so I figure I'll have a little fun. Here's my proposed topic:

"Recognizing and responding to the early stages of a flesh-eating zombie outbreak."

Hopefully the instructor has a sense of humor.

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All this talk of zombie outbreaks has me thinking of bite wounds. And bite wounds make me think of my eldest and her ongoing experiments with special effects makeup. The other day she got hold of some dental casting materials--alginate, trays and plaster--from a special effects guy she met recently. This guy is making a set of fangs for her, and she's going to wear them at Flashback Weekend in Rosemont later this month. She's going to model the fangs, and then do a casting for anyone who's interested in buying a pair. She'll pass the castings to the sfx dude, and the purchaser will get a custom set of fangs within a couple of weeks.

In the meantime her dental casting experiments are providing us all with loads o' fun:



I told her that with these materials it would actually be possible to duplicate and then plant someone's fingerprints at a crime scene. She's only going to use her powers for good, though. She also asks, while you're at it, to please come down and root for her in the Zombie Pinup contest. She'll be the zombie nurse.

I'm proud of her.