Adopted Man Finds His Father - Charles Manson

After watching Helter Skelter, my primary thought was "Charles Manson sure did get a lot of tail." Which is why this story from The Sun of a man who discovered that his biological father was the famous serial killer is, while crazy, ultimately unsurprising. I bet there are at least a few more littered around California.

Matthew, 41 - who bears a haunting resemblance to his father - sank into depression after discovering his identity.

He has since been in contact with his dad in a series of letters to his California prison and Manson has replied - each time chillingly signing off with a swastika.

When 41-year-old DJ Matthew Roberts located his mother, he pressed her for more information until she finally revealed to him that she had been raped by Manson "in a drug-fueled orgy" after following him and The Family to San Francisco.

"What I'm worried about is that you think you're going to meet your birth mother or father and they're going to love you and welcome you with open arms. But he's not that kind of person."

Despite Manson's evil actions, Matthew confesses he now battles confused emotions towards his biological father.

He says: "If I did talk to Charlie on the phone, I would say, 'I truly understand what it's like to be you, more than anyone could ever imagine on so many levels'.

"He's my biological father - I can't help but have some kind of emotional connection. That's the hardest thing of all - feeling love for a monster who raped my mother.

"I don't want to love him, but I don't want to hate him either."

PETAs Thanksgiving Day Ad Banned

NPR is reporting on how NBC TV has refused to air PETAs pro-vegan ad during Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The ad is pretty clever, and features a young girl listing all the horrors that befall turkey before they get onto our tables. I'm no fan of PETA, and I firmly plan on stuffing myself with turkey-bird in the coming weeks, but pretty much everything she mentions is true of industrial farming. Here's the transcript:

Dear God. Thank you for the turkey we're about to eat. And for the turkey farms where they pack them into dark, tiny little sheds for their whole lives. Thank you for when they burn their feathers off when they're still alive and for when turkey gets kicked around like a football and killed by people who think it's fun to stomp on their little turkey heads. And special thanks for all the chemicals and dirt and poop that's in the turkey we're about to eat. Oh, and thank you for rainbows.

Ultimately, though, PETA wins out here. They don't have to pay an absurd amount of money to air an ad to the audience that most strictly ignores anything from PETAs mouth, and their ad gets what will probably be a pretty decent circulation on Youtube and other sites.

Old Footage of Cacophony Society

As a result of recently entering the world of the gainfully employed, I haven't had as much time to blog as I'd like. To make it up to all you fine folks, here's some footage circa 1990 of the famous Cacophony Society in a news story. Watch to the end to see them light the first Burning Man to ever ignite in Black Rock City.

Gay Wedding Proposal Interrupts DC Hearing

During a series of council hearings in the DC area on the topic of marriage equality, Andrew Hertzberg decided to make his testimony a little more memorable by proposing to his partner, right then and there.

"I would like to take a huge step in my own life," Hertzberg said. "Andy Rollman, I'd like to ask you: Will you marry me?"

Most council members approved of the gesture and offered congratulations, ABC 7's Sam Ford reported. But those there to testify against gay marriage weren't as supportive. Barbara Morgan, a gay marriage opponent, called the proposal a lack of respect.

China Terrorized By Gigantic Breasts

The sculpture depicts a 20cm tall girl with breasts that are five metres high and wide, reports News Express.

Parents have protested at the installation in Foshan City, Guangdong province, which they say is highly embarrassing.

One local mum, called Liang, complained: "The park used to be a great place for families, but now what attracts my son the most is the huge breasts.

"I have tried to educate him with some scientific knowledge, but all he thinks when he sees the statue are smutty thoughts."

And a kindergarten teacher, who brought her class to visit the park, says it shocked some of them to tears.

"The little girls were scared and cried loudly, asking me if they would grow those huge things, and boys laughed crazily," she said.

A park spokesman said the statue was intended as a permanent fixture in the park but admitted it had been repeatedly damaged - with one person even trying to fit it with a giant bra.

"It's normal to have disagreements about art, we can understand it," said the spokesman.

For A Good Time Call

MSNBC.com has this story about how Linda Vista Elementary School accidentally put a phone-sex number on their Jog-a-thon shirts.

The school was promoting a jog-a-thon fundraiser and printed shirts displaying a lion, their school mascot. The caption below featured the tag line "How's my running? Call 1-800 Eat Dust."

It was supposed to be a snarky, fun slogan. Until a curious parent called the number and discovered it connected to a she-male sex chat line. Oops.

"It was an innocent mistake. Parents have been very understanding," Rosemary Gladden, public information officer for Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, told the Orange County Register.

The schools PTA, who printed the shirts, is not the first group to make the "typographical error" according to the Associated Press. The two word 800 number shows up online as part of a popular running slogan sold on T-shirts and merchandise.

This reminds me of the year my El Dorado High School yearbook's title was misspelled to read "The Golden Anus" instead of "The Golden Year".

Colonel Sanders Journeys to UN

As part of a KFC promotional stunt, an actor by the name of Robert Thompson portraying the famous Colonel Sanders (who passed away in 1980) was able to sneak past UN security guards and even meet Ali Treki, the new president of the UN General Assembly, under the guise of representing the 'Grilled Nation'.