Surf’s Up Dept.

Cartoons at Large Dept.

A study conducted at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom has determined that caricatures drawn of crooks were twice as easy to identify with their targets than traditional photofits. According to the article from The Guardian UK:

In tests, volunteers were asked to identify people from the standard photofit of their face and from their caricature.

On average, a photofit face was correctly identified 20% of the time, compared with 40% for the caricature, according to a report in this month’s Visual Cognition journal.

I can see it now…

“Attention all units, be on the lookout for suspect in your area. Identified as a white male, 30 to 35 years old, 16 pound 18 inch nose, head the size of a beach ball, tiny marble-like eyes, has name written in bubble letter floating over left shoulder. May be seen roller skating. Approach with caution…”

(Thanks to Hutch for the link!)

Tough on Chime Dept.-

Niagara Falls court judge Robert Restaino was presiding over a domestic abuse case when someone’s cell phone rang in the court. Restaino demanded the offending cell phone be handed over. When the owner did not step forward, Restraino went beserk and sent everyone in the courtroom to jail. According to the story from C/Net News:

“Everyone is going to jail; every single person is going to jail in this courtroom unless I get that instrument now,” he went on. “If anybody believes I’m kidding, ask some of the folks that have been here for a while. You are all going.”

46 people were searched and jailed in crowded cells. Fourteen who could not post bail were shackled and sent by bus to a different jail… I can only hope one of those was the Verizon “Can you hear me now?” guy. After his time in stir, his new slogan is: “Can you hear me now, bitch?”

A Drucker by Any Other Name Dept.-

A reporter at Park City, Utah public radio station KPCW-FM, recently flipped through the latest Park City Record newspaper and noticed that an editorial cartoon published in that paper contained a caricature that looked suspiciously like one drawn decades ago by MAD Magazine legend Mort Drucker. Reporter Rick Brough dug up the original published Drucker drawing and faxed it to the Park Record.

The editorial cartoon in question was done by longtime Park City Record cartoonist John Kilbourne. The result was his resignation from the paper amid the stated disappointment of his editor and publisher.

No word yet whether the incident has caused the dozens of cartoonists who make a living copying the work of Drucker and Jack Davis scurrying for cover.

(Via The Daily Cartoonist…)

Gizzard of Oz Dept.-

Only in Minneosta…

A butcher in Fairmont, Minnesota was processing chickens when he came across a shiny object in a chicken gizzard. It was an identity bracelet with a name, address and phone number on it. After some amateur detective work, meat cutter Mark Olson tracked down original owner Aaron Giles through his father, who now lives in Arizona. Giles, now living in Massachusetts, was surprised to see his bracelet as he lost it 25 years ago as a young boy while playing in a barn in Fairmont.

Giles said the bracelet was in perfect condition… except it smelled like chicken gizzard.

Giles also said that he expects the bracelet to “remain in his family for years to come”… I hope by that he means in a drawer or jewelry box and not in a family member’s internal organs.

…The chicken did not return phone calls for comment.

Hitting the Street Artists Dept.-

I came across this video on YouTube. I think this guy might have applied to work for me once…